Questions for the article “Digital McLuhan”

 1. What are the differences between the pre-literate acoustic world and the alphabetical visual world? How does the media of television become a part of the acoustic world?  The pre-literate acoustic world lacked boundaries and therefore information came from anywhere and without specific direction.  The alphabetical visual world on the other hand has boundaries and direction.  Television relates to the acoustic world through its musical, mythic and immersive tendencies.

 

 2. Why does the alphabet have the segregating tendencies? How exactly does the printing press reverse the segregating tendencies?  Prior to the printing press only small groups had access to the alphabet.  It was reserved for more elite groups and thus created a larger divide between literate and illiterate individuals.  Once the printing press was invented more people were able to gain access to literature (the alphabet) and over time close the gap towards literacy.

 

 3. How does the alphabetic communication in online communication make cyberspace acoustic? How is the online acoustic world different from the television, radio, or print acoustic world?  The endless openness and interactivity of cyberspace have formed it into an acoustic world.  It is the fact that cyberspace requires our undivided attention to participate that separates it from other media.  We use TV, radio and print often as secondary communicative processes, but that is not the case with how we use cyberspace. 

 

 4. Not only do we invent media and media technologies but also we select their uses in different contexts. What are the two selection criteria? According to the selection criteria, please discuss what will happen to our online communication in 20 years?        1) We want media to extend our communication beyond the biological boundaries of naked seeing and hearing.  2) We want media to recapture elements of that biological communication which early artificial extensions may have lost.  It seems that people want media that is not only an extension of our communication, but also a more organic and natural means of communicating.  We want something that is technologically advanced, but also fits into the flow of natural human interaction.  With these circumstances, we may be headed towards further advances in virtual reality or interactive holograms.  These technologies would allow humans the interaction they crave and push the boundaries of current communication.