Describe how the multimodal design of “The Medium is the Massage” expresses the ideas in McLuhan’s text. What is McLuhan saying about the difference between print culture and the new electric culture of television and mass media?  In what ways do Manovich’s 5 principles of “new media” extend McLuhan ideas about how media shapes us? What about these principles have an effect on social interaction and/or cultural production? In what ways are media and culture being reshaped and transformed by the logic of the computer? 

The Medium is the Massage explains that the medium is a idea that can be communicated in multiple ways. In mosaic the pictures and words are displayed differently and they are telling a different message. For this example the pictures are showing a different emotion than what the text is actually saying.

5 Principles of “New Media” –

Numerical Representation

Modularity

Automation

Variability

Transcoding

I thought that the 5th principle, Transcoding, really connected with how the flow of time has changed so much and how people are relied on that change, or screen in front of their face, so often that we have come numb to how to see how a picture/words can help us succeed in life. The dependence on technology has become so much that younger life won’t know what it’s like to have a paper back book in your hand.

I think that transcoding has shaped us in the same way as how computer has shaped media. Humans have become so dependent on technology and it has made us, in some cases, unable to do things without a screen in front of us. With Manovich’s example of transcoding is how media is just turned into computer data. Things are still printed, but not as much as they use to since it’s harder to store into a small compact system that can easily be filter through.

I believe that technology has made our lives so much easier and it goes along with Manovich and how he talks about digital media makes life easier, making computers/phones easier to maneuver.

The multimodal design in “The Medium is the Massage” appropriately acts as a kaleidoscope of ideas and concepts. McLuhan expresses the irrelevance of “old ways” in this new age of technology and explicitly draws visual aids to numerous sayings, to include: “The wheel is an extension of the foot”, and “the book is an extension of the eye…”. He expresses numerous instances of unconventional shifts in societal reasoning and meets those thoughts with equally thought-provoking imagery in a non-linear way. It seems a bit chaotic and unorganized, but I think that’s the point. Readings and visual aids collaborate and appear to be as jarring and overwhelming as the problem-sets being described. It almost appears as if you can pick up the book, shuffle it around, and pick up reading from any point while still gaining key message fragments.

McLuhan accurately depicts the complexities of new electric culture compared to its print cultures predecessor. He insinuates that with greater access, comes greater anxiety – and how a grand overhaul of our lives is inevitable.

To start, Manovich’s 1st principle can be extended into some of McLuhan’s ideas through the concept of programmability. If all new media can truly be represented numerically, it becomes more susceptible to change and drives into McLuhan’s idea of how we consume information and how that same information dictates our decision-making process. Manovich’s 2nd principle of modularity also plays well into McLuhan’s overarching theme in “The Medium is the Massage”, as he ties numerous media elements and fragments together to depict a larger message.

The Medium is the Massage expresses the value for the medium in which something or some idea is communicated. Through Mcluhan’s essay or “mosaic”, he incorporates different photos and arranges words and images to convey a separate message to his textual message. If you focus on the photos, you can begin to see a different side of message, or a new interpretation. What McLuhan demonstrates is that the medium of the communication has a larger impact on the individual experiencing it, rather than the content itself.

(The Medium is the Massage by McLuhan)

The introduction of new electric culture compared to print culture is that this new digital age has allowed for growth in mediums. The media that is emphasized through the new digital age has allowed for new types of extensions of the body. These extensions are the new mediums that alter our perceptions of a certain piece. Lev Manovich’s 5 principles of new media extend McLuhan’s ideas through referencing the important of media elements and their uses, as well as the variability that comes with new media. Manovich discusses Modularity as his 2^nd principle, discussing the use of elements such as images, sounds and shapes and how they are used to form bigger objects, while also keeping their individual identity. This directly connects to McLuhans use of images and symbols, that he uses to tell a story through a “mosaic”, where they all have their own identity, but come together to form something larger.

(Youtube, Blue Lighting TV Photoshop)

Variability is Manovich’s 4^th principle, highlighting how through digital media an object can exist with infinite versions. I think this connects to McLuhan’s ideas in that medium has an infinite amount of ways to be interpreted, and connects with the variability of digital media. Considering that McLuhan did not get to experience this new digital age we are accustomed to, he was very close to so many things that were not even possible during his time.

Manovich’s principles have an effect on social interaction through the interconnectedness of people and new media. In this day and age we are all enveloped with media, whether in the form of using social media, creating digital art, or just owning an IPhone. These principles are all useful to us, for example his 3^rd principle of automation. If you have ever used a filter on your phone, you are using something that is already programmed for that. We use these things to make our lives easier.

I think much of what Manovich discusses goes along with how digital media makes our lives easier in how we use it. The logic of the computer shapes much of how we operate. Our culture of communication is taken to a new place through the logic of the computer, making things more accessible, and making connecting with people more convenient.

Digital technology has great potential to be beneficial and equally detrimental in the same stroke. Digital technology as we know it has changed many aspects of our every-day lives. It changes how most of us choose to eat, sleep, consume information, and even make impactful or meaningful life choices. The barrier to entry for certain tech has also become progressively less, further exposing people to certain tools, mediums, and capabilities across many demographics and age-groups. While this can be extremely beneficial for overall familiarization and certain forms of task-based learning, it can also act as a hindrance for certain critical-thinking skills or social nuances that may be prove to be useful in our society.

“Resistance is futile, but so is the abandonment of personal experience scaled to the individual human organism. We are not just a hive mind operating on a plane entirely divorced from individual experience. There is a place for humanity — for you and me — in the new cybernetic order.”

As easy as it is to be cynical about all the bad places digital technology can take us, or how accessible it can be as a “crutch” or excuse to not remember information – I still remain relatively optimistic towards the future of what it has to offer and how we, as people, utilize it. I find myself enthused more often than annoyed – smiling more often than frustrated, even if it is over some of the most ridiculous or menial stuff. That’s what’s most important, at least to me. Enjoyment, fulfillment (to some extent), and growth – and these mediums available to use seem to be providing that for a lot of living, breathing people today.

Sure, there are still people out there I can’t force into conversation over dinner because they’d rather glue themselves to their phones instead of speak to me. Why do I care though? I don’t think I’m that interesting either, and what’s the tradeoff? For every person ignoring me on their phone there is probably a kid out in the world learning to program and using that exact same technology in an equally meaningful way. As infuriating as certain things can be for some, I think these are small, necessary steps towards propelling ourselves into the next age of innovation.

Hello! I’m Christopher Velo and am currently attending WSU Vancouver as a first-year student pursuing a degree in Business Administration. I worked with the Navy as a public affairs specialist for the last seven years and am more than excited for the change of scenery with everyone here! I’m primarily a PC person but prefer to work MAC for particular editing software (Adobe suite, mostly). My interest in digital media is that it is inherently an extension of my life as I know it. I’ve been working in the sector of digital media in a professional and personal capacity for the better half of a decade and it’s been a rollercoaster to experience how drastically the environment has changed from a consumer and creative standpoint.

Hello,

# My name is Hamza . My major is accounting. I already learned a lot of cool things during the first week of the class. Digital technology has huge impact on my life like everybody else. It opened many doors for me that I thought it will never be opened, like continuing my education on older age than average student , freedom of speech in places that freedom is not exist, and communicating with my family overseas with almost zero cost!!

# What about digital technology makes it a unique tool or medium in human history? 

One of the main things that make digital technology unique is its ability to bring people together regardless of  race, religion , ideology, languages, and far distances. Digital technology is putting globalization on rapped growth not just on an economic level but also on social level. I believe it makes the world a better place because people start realizing they have in common way more than they thought. 

The digital technology is a perfect example of the accumulated knowledge that passes form nation to nation and generation to generation. Starting form adding sheep and cows with a very basic tools to super computers. Digital technology was not one man invention, it is many inventions form all over the world put together by brilliant  people and companies that got us where we at now.

Another special thing about the Digital technology is our ability to program the machine to do whatever we want, and the machine do it with higher accuracy and speed!. The fact that  we could communicate with machines and program them to communicate with us and among each other is like magic to me! and I am still leaning about it and below is my first experiment with it.

What about digital technology makes it a unique tool or medium in human history?

I think that digital technology makes a unique tool for everyone in different types of ways. People can use it to create, remote learning, working from home and different platforms of communication.

With digital technology advancing so quickly its exciting to see what the next steps will be with it. How  much more advance can everything become? Will laptops just vanish and cell phones will become the all in one or have they already?

https://www.ptc.com/

Hi, I’m Adam Barker. I’m majoring in DTC.

This is my first term at WSU. I recently graduated from the PCC Multimedia certificate program. I work with a variety of multimedia mediums. My main passion is 3D modeling and animation, but I have experience with game design, music production through Ableton Live, VR design using the Unity game engine, video editing, many Adobe Suite programs like Photoshop and Illustrator, etc.

I use a PC mainly for creating artwork and playing games, but I use a Macbook for classes and internet browsing.

Looking forward to learning more and discussing with everyone in class!

When humans began to evolve, we have developed several tools to ease our way of living.As time went by, communication became one of our most important ways to transfer information  from on to an other, however, it would come in a time priced manner. On the past, the tools which we used for communicating information or data required a lot of time and energy with minimal results, making this exchanges extremely time consuming. As time we by we started to development and improve those tools to lower the time consumption and incriminating the date/ information we intended to communicate.When computer came along, this became a reality, as individuals could communicate massive amount of information from on place to another in a blink.

Digital technology has improved the way humans communicate to one another, it has allows us to connect with people from place with would have never imagine. On the past decade, digital technology has revolved from a tool to a medium, as it was designed with the intention of completing simply tasks to a highly effective platform of data transmission.

https://www.theverge.com

Digital technology has drastically improved the way we understand cultures, as it provides the knowledge of generations to the palm of our hands.however, each coin has to side and this isn’t the expectation. When we look at the amount of information presented to us on a daily basis, our mind can get overwhelmed by it, spiking the levels of stress and anxiety with it ourselves as our mind have not being design to process such a large amount of information in such a short period of time.

What about digital technology makes it a unique tool or medium in human history?

Digital technology has allowed for one of the most human behaviors to continue and thrive, and that is communication. As human beings we are social creatures, we thrive for connectedness and to form relationships. Digital technology has allowed for a fast progressing world of communication. This tool allows for the basic task of communicating to be accessible across the globe, feeding that social being in us. Throughout history we have created tools to assist in communication of ideas and with each other, such as the printing press during the 1400’s, all the way to the I phone you probably have sitting right next to you. What becomes evident is that our attitude towards a need to communicate has led to development of easier and more widely accessible forms of communication.

(WellRight.com)

Along with an ease for communication, digital technology is unique in its ability to make the human’s job easier. As new digital technology is developed, the main advertising that comes along with it is how easy it will be for you, the consumer, to use it. This tool is unique in its ability to progress, always making things easier for us. In addition to making things easier, it makes them much faster, conditioning us to think at much faster rates, which can sometimes come as a fault. In the first chapter of Program or be Programmed, they discuss the concept of time, and how even digital technology (that has no regards for time at all), effects our perception of time. With the text and email alerts we get on a daily basis at the hands of our tech, we become more anxious for messages, and it encourages us to “need” to respond right away. In some ways these unique benefits for communication and ease of access are controlling us.

Digital technology has had the ability to improve our lives in way of efficiency and ease, but all the while changing who we are as people. It is truly an incredible development for humans, but where it may take us in terms of changing us comes with pause for considering the consequences.

What about digital technology makes it a unique tool or medium in human history?

Digital technology has allowed millions more people than ever before to have access in creating art and content. In classical society, owning or commissioning art was often just for the wealthy elites. Creating art required a very specific skill set, one that many artists spent their whole lives mastering. As time progressed, art slowly disseminated into something that everyone could enjoy, but still many lacked the skill or resources required to paint, sculpt, etc. With digital tools, nearly anyone can look up tutorials and then find a medium (photoshop, tiktok, premiere pro) to execute their ideas.

This effect is further compounded by the rate we view content created by digital technology. Before the internet, museums were often the only way to view art. They were the destination. But now, the art or content is oftentimes the destination itself. We have don’t look up Louvre to find pictures of the Mona Lisa. Just the same, when we open instagram or TikTok people are not looking for anything specific, rather people just want to see content.

(nybgallery.com)

Like we discussed in class on the 22nd, there are times where we can spend hours and hours viewing hundreds of different videos and pictures. The amount of content that is created everyday is astounding. If you were to go to an independent art gallery in person and view the art the same way you would look at pictures on instagram it would probably take you less than 10 minutes to finish their whole collection. That speaks volumes to the differences between physical art and how digital technology has shaped how quickly we create using different mediums and how they are shared amongst people.

Hi everyone, my name is Conner Coady. I go to the Vancouver campus and I have a small background in digital art that I am hoping to grow.

• Your major: I am a strategic communications major and a DTC minor. I also learning how to get my social media certificate.
• What is your interest in digital media?: I really enjoy creating engaging content through programs like Figma, Illustrator, and Photoshop. It is a great way to supplement and enhance your communication skills.
• PC,  MAC or both?: I like playing video games so I personally use a PC.