Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man

(Paperback)

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This reissue of "Understanding Media" marks the 30th anniversary (1964-1994) of Marshall McLuhan's classic expose on the state of the then emerging phenomenon of mass media. Terms and phrases such as "the global village" and "the medium is the message" are now part of the lexicon, and McLuhan's theories continue to challenge our sensibilities and our assumptions about how and what we communicate. There has been a notable resurgence of interest in McLuhan's work in the last few years, fuelled by the recent and continuing conjunctions between the cable companies and the regional phone companies, the appearance of magazines such as "Wired", and the develoment of new media models and information ecologies, many of which were spawned from MIT's Media Lab. In effect, media now begs to be redefined.

Reviews

...the most brilliant marketing mind of all belonged to Marshall McLuhan. Understanding Media is a timeless analysis of how language, speech and technology shape human behavior in the era of mass communication. The book is a cautionary tale for marketers today who hear the Web's siren call and ignore the power of the spoken word.