Lecture Notes September 10th How Technology Changes Society Technological determinism the idea that technology is what shapes cultural and societal change o Tools give us power in society o We think about cultures in terms of their industries their technology and developments o Marshall McLuhan famous for his phrase the medium is the message meaning that it doesn t really matter what you say the medium is the environment and the environment sets up a very impactful structure It doesn t matter what you say it matters with what medium you say it Media are extensions of man they become part of how we operate in the world All media entail mediation don t get too hung up on what is being said but how a medium affects the world By that way of thinking we d say it doesn t matter what is in children s books the important thing is that they are literate A Rod s apology difference between if he d said it over television writing radio etc Think about audience appealing to emotion authenticity History of media evolutions o Literacy writing is a technology Things used to be shared orally relied on the spoken word to convey messages passed down from generation to generation Hearing stories is different and there has been a shift in technology that has made our society less oral such as books o Effects of literacy Distances the speaker from the listener Creates virtual communication Allows built upon knowledge Training and education become more important Linear time and recordable history introduced Harold Innis monopolies of knowledge the upper class hoard and protect knowledge to maintain power professional jargon of doctors and lawyers o Print 600 Chinese printing press Moveable type in China Johannes Gutenberg 1450s printing press 1500 mass produced books In earlier days religious figures were the only literate ones and had access to the scriptures so they maintained their power Martin Luther lead the protestant reformation believed that people should be able to read religious texts for themselves Translated the Bible into German Gutenberg used the printing press to print this Bible starting the Gutenberg revolution Education started to become necessary to educate people so that they could be literate and keep track of their daily lives This contributed to the rise of the 2 scientific method ideas should be tested more informed population in general Effects of print Mass communication born Democratization of knowledge Development of journalism and mass advertising Rise of public education and science Knowledge is more of a commodity than something that just the elites have Price increases for producer decreases for consumer o Photography Emerges in the 1830 s mirrors with memory Changed people s perception of time and space One of the first uses was for journalists to take pictures of the Civil War to take back to society and communicate the cost of war Used to generate support for different political figures and their policies Effects of photography Challenged authority of written and spoken word Gave people a visual identity Recorded history for the present Evidence in court Conveyed news o Other landmarks The telegraph 1830 s 3 The radio 1895 Cinema Time Space compression the media change our perceptions of time and space o Time for news to travel from NYC to Cincinnati in 1794 44 days 1817 19 days 1841 7 days o Now where we are physically does not determine where we are socially o Space is social you can be in your living room but taking a class on a bus but FaceTiming your friend in your dorm but talking to your mom on the phone o Physical thresholds are becoming less important o Mobile privatization the idea that individuals are able to increase their mobility at home you can travel and communicate in your own home But you can connect to the feeling of being at home when you have technology You can carry spaces with you with your media 4