This video from 1977 in Austraila is part one of a 3 part Q&A after a lecture by Marshall Mcluhan. We know that Mcluhan saw media as an extension of our senses. It is very interesting to watch this video from 1977 and see how right on the man was in describing the effect of media.
This is so great to hear and see him talking. His initial explanation of “medium is the message” is one of the better explanations I’ve heard to date: that it’s the overall impact of a form of media on a particular society using it….that is much more important than a particular piece of content “on” that medium.
As he says, it’s much more important that society as a whole is connected via ubiquitous phone lines and service, than it is what any one person says to any other person at any time. And we today, want to know what impact mobile and cloud tools has on society as a whole, so that we can best guide development of online tools.
Sadly, watching this, reminds me of what often happens to visionaries in an interview format. The person asking the questions isn’t really listening to the answers Marshall is giving, and instead keeps trying to shoehorn the brilliant insights into old silos and packages.
Somewhat typical of what someone with brilliant insights will encounter when trying to explain them to a unaware audience. This will affect the roll out of new tech for learning in that those who know “what it should be” are going to have a hard time explaining “what it should be” in a way that is understood.
TED tries to offer visionaries a platform and a prefabbed production system that helps make “visionary” talk/ images more palatable. Online teachers need to also be “palatable”…