Blog assignment #6

Question: 

Using McLuhan's "Tetrad of Media" (see diagram below), choose a medium or media application or tool (e.g. newspaper, books, radio, tv, film, internet, computer games, handphone, instant messaging, blogging, online advertising, youtube, facebook etc.) and explain its media effects? Please refer to Week 9's lecture notes plus your own research to discuss this topic.

Two Critical Reflections:

1) In our society there are many media tools or application. I choose hand phone as the media application. In my notion hand phone is powerful media tool for mass communication. The hand phone was invented in the 20^th century.  It has many other capabilities that the normal phone didn’t have in hand. The hand phone enhances the usage in communication, and also other features such as SMS, Bluetooth, and Internet access, GPRS, access to computer files, and etc. The hand phone is a very resourceful tool among media application tools. It obsolesces the normal telephone that we use in everyday life. It comes in handy and easy to carry, Where as the normal telephone doesn’t have these factors.

 

2) However, I believe that ongoing usage of the hand phone retrieves the common factor of the telephone, which is communication. It is a very reliable tool that manages to fill our time. Since these hand phones are upgrading very quickly, too many people are becoming obsessed with this media tool. It has an impact on our daily lives; people are spending too much money and profit to get the new upgraded hand phone. I think that people can invest their money in many other resources.

 

Reflection on Media Culture Class

 During this week, the lecturer talked about different topics such as “the extensions of Man”, McLuhans’s theory, and hot and cold media. Some of this topic is somewhat confusing, but throughout time and research it will be easier to understand its message.