Interpretation of the Phrase "The Medium is the Message"
‘The medium is the message’ is a phrase by Marshall McLuhan. This phrase is about the way we deliver, direct and obtain information. Expanding from the phrase is the medium more important than the information itself? Is what’s been communicated less important than the way you communicate it? Is Marshall McLuhan Really saying, the message given is actually how it’s formed? Developing from these points is the information given the content itself or the form it takes? We are going to explore what this is saying through this piece. This piece is extracting the core themes and developing and expanding them and understating what they are and how are they affecting the world we live today and how is affecting the future.
The information given is important but the context of the information and how it is given can overpower the information itself. The information good be amazing but the way you delivered the information could be poor that no one cares, from this you have made a gold bar a pile of poo, so the context, timing, and medium used can either help or hinder the information given.
The consequence of private and public medium is it has become an extensions of our selves this is because of the modern medium of technology that has made the information we are given more accessible and right in our hands it’s become a part of our lives, it’s become a part of us with feel like we are missing something when we leave the house without technology the medium of the information. The technology that communicates the message changes us. It changes the society, the individual, the family, work and leisure because it is an extension of our selves that feels like it is us, makes us feel like one entity, one body, one being and it makes us feel united together with our self’s and with everyone else.
The information given is in most people’s eyes is more important, that it’s the main part of the message. Within the last few years technology has increased and is becoming more of a part of our lives, this means that we are becoming more visual than verbal. This means that we are subconsciously caring more about the medium than the information supplied to us.
The medium today has become bigger and bigger and more noticeable due to the increase of technology, with this everyone all around the world has been coming together using technology to communicate. The medium is important as people are saying “it has not happened unless you have a photo to prove it”. Therefore, this proves that the medium is the message as people will not take it seriously when it is spoken to them until it is shown to them. This shows that the medium is what people what and the medium helps to get the information across to people. This also helps when it comes to people speaking different languages as the medium (images in this case) speak a language that is unified by everyone.
Typology 1: Phone call (talking to each other) Audio (ear)
Phone call typology is the premise of talking to one another with distance between each other, which is not far off just talking to each other face to face. With talking to each other you can have a few people talking to each other, you end up talking about the same thing for a time. With talking you have the reaction of the person talking and the person receiving, you also get the different tones from how the people are speaking allowing you to tell how people are felling.
With talking to people, the message is as important if not more important than the medium. When considering design for this area the message is everything. With talking it is audio therefore using the sense that’s with your ears which means that this is message dependant rather than medium. What it is and dose is important which is the message but don’t forget the medium as it need to be use and understandable, so it need to be considered but not the main thing when coming to design.
Designing for an item that is about the message is hard as you need to understand the user and what the product needs to do, as it need to communicate the use. But you need to realise that the medium is a key part of the design as it is the form of the communication for the information for the product. “The medium is the message” is a significant part of the design of any product. As it’s not just about the information it’s how the information looks and how the product feels. This is a key phrase even though the product is message base like the phone it still needs a medium to give the information over.
Typology 2: Internet Visual (eyes)
Internet typology is on technology like a smartphone, tablet, computer and more. What this has done is made the communication we do now more visual than audible which make this a medium over message product. As you are having to look at a screen to use the internet and product which makes you use your eyes making it medium dependent rather than message. What it is and dose is important which is the message but don’t forget the medium which is how to use it. “We were once consumers of information now in the 21st century we are producers of information as well.” This is due to the introduction of the internet and technology. “Conversations are being replaced with emojis news stories are being replaced with 140-character tweets.”
A current problem when coming to what’s happening on the internet, what goes on the internet could last forever, what you put on the internet could be seen by everyone. You can put something up on the internet and people can comment be mean, and unforgiving also it is hard to remove something from the internet and if so, it will be unforgetful and people will bring it back up to the surface. Designing for an item that is about the medium is easy as that is about how it looks how is, it perceives used and related. A medium lead design is what every design is, but it needs to be understandable for the user. The internet will always need designing as it is a medium.
“The medium is the message” is a significant part of the design of any product especially one to go on the internet. As it’s not just about the information it’s how the information looks as it is going to be view on screens all around the world. This is a key phrase and is one that product designers need to remember and consider with there designs. “it is impossible to understand social cultural changes without a knowledge of the working of media” this is playing such an important part in today’s culture with the introduction of social media websites and technologies that push this content.
Conclusion
The medium is the message is as it states, how the message looks is how it comes about. This was coined by Marshall McLuhan. This phrase is meaning the form of a medium becomes and envelops itself with the message becoming one therefore conveying and creating a symbolic connection to the message which influences the message’s connotation.
McLuhan clams were made in 1967 about an “interactive, interconnective village” is happening all around the world today by the help of the internet. What McLuhan is describing is like a prediction of what the internet is today but written and said before the internet was conceived. McLuhan seamed to be ahead of his times of what could be possible with the human race and what the human race wanted and needed, as today culture we could not live without the internet and all the social media that comes with it.
The medium is the message is a key thought that needs to go around every designer’s head as it is shaping and will shapes the future of the world and the way we design. As this is a way of thinking and way of living as how you present some information is how the message is going to come across so designers need to consider the medium on which they design. The designs that have this saying at their core are the designs that are successful that last that grow and that work. The medium is the message is a message that should and will travel thought time and be a message that will change the medium we will use in the future.
