Reflection on McLuhan (part 1)

What I find fascinating in McLuhan theories is the discourse strictly related to the nature and development of medium. He says something that might sound pretty obvious after having heard it, yet in most of cases this thing passes unnoticed: ‘the new medium always presents old functions’, see for instance the typewriter and the keyboard, different interface but same function.

This leads to a thought I had analysing Rokeby’s surveillance pieces, and which I would define as “medium dichotomy”. The medium is created for some specific purposes, though it is the “use or misuse” of the medium itself that make its purpose. When I say “use” or “misuse”, I intend both terms in a positive sense: for “use” I mean approaching the medium as it was meant to be used (“old function”, by using McLuhan’s words), whereas “misuse” stands for approaching the medium with a different eye (“new function”).

Let’s make an example: I can use the phone to make and receive calls (“use”, i.e. “old function”) or to produce music making it ring or sound in different ways (“misuse”, i.e. “new function”). Other practical examples. The Internet was originally ideated as a private network for sharing information of scientific and military nature (ARPANET, 1969), then finally developed as a public network. The Short Message Service (1980s) followed the same ‘iter’, being at first a fast and short communication system for professional purposes only and after being embraced by the mainstream. The main issue is not the medium itself but its usage.

This is probably the reason why McLuhan says ‘the medium is hidden, the message is evident’. The statement sounds a bit too radical, usually the very message is hidden as well, yet it is true that the “content” is visible while the “container” not. Our level of addiction to technology is such that we don’t see anymore what is right in front of our eyes. For instance, when we look to a television we don’t see a medium/device made of a box, boards, circuits, screen etc etc, we see the news, soaps, movies and so on. From this point of view McLuhan is totally right, the content is obsolete.