Media History and Evolution

Evolution of Media History

1. Tribal Age: An Acoustic Place in History

The tribal age was an acoustic place where the senses of hearing, touch, and smell were developed far and beyond the ability to visualize. Hearing and smelling provide a sense of that we cannot see, a crucial ability in the tribal age.
The omnidirectional quality of sound also enhances the
community. To tell a secret, we must whisper or speak directly in someone’s ear or make sure that no one else is listening. The sense of sound works against privatization. Listening to someone speak in a group is a unifying act. Everyone hears at the same time.

2. The Age of Literacy: A Visual Point of View

Turning sounds into visible objects radically altered the symbolic environment. Suddenly, the eye became the heir apparent. Hearing diminished in value and quality. In McLuhan’s belief that a private, left-brain “point of view” becomes possible in a world that encourages the visual practice of reading texts.

In a acoustic environment, taking something out of context is nearly impossible. In the age of literacy, it is reality. Both writer and reader are both separate from the text. They can be read and reread. They can be thoroughly analyzed. Hearing is no longer trustworthy. “Seeing it in writing” becomes the proof that it is true. Literacy also jarred people out of collective tribal involvement into “civilized” private detachment. Reading words, instead of hearing them, transform group members into individuals. A tribe no longer needs to come together to get information. Proximity becomes less important.

3. The Print Age: Prototype of the Industrial Revolution

If the phonetic alphabet made visual independence possible, the printing press made it widespread. McLuhan argued that the most important aspect of movable type was its ability to reproduce the same text over and over again, and a press run of 100,000 copies of Understanding Media suggest the he was right, McLuhan called it the forerunner of the industrial revolution.

4. The Electronic Age: The Rise of Global Village

With the tap-tap-tap of the telegraph, the power of the printed word lost its bearings. Of course, Samuel Morse’s invention was only the first of the new electronic media devices that would make corner Radio shack seem, to previous generations like a magic shop. McLuhan insisted that electronic media are retribalizing the human race. Instant communication has returned to us to pre-alphabetic oral tradition where sound and touch are more important than sight.

5. The Digital Age: Rewiring the Global Village

With the tap-tap-tap of the telegraph, the power of the printed word lost its bearings. Of course, Samuel Morse’s invention was only the first of the new electronic media devices that would make corner Radio shack seem, to previous generations like a magic shop. McLuhan insisted that electronic media are retribalizing the human race. Instant communication has returned to us to pre-alphabetic oral tradition where sound and touch are more important than sight.

6. Ethical Reflection: The Faustian Bargain

When wired, magazine on digital culture was launched in 1992, the editors declared Marshall McLuhan the magazine’s “patron saint.” There was a sense that another revolution was looming, as many returned to the words of McLuhan for guidance. Despite the contentious nature of this tribalization of differences, many see the benefit in the resulting decentralization of power and control.