Recently, CNN has revamped the format of their programmes to include more subtitles. Immediately after a guest says something, it is posted in the bar at the bottom of the screen. According to Marshall McLuhan in Understanding Media, this will turn television into a slightly cooler medium and require greater audience participation to keep up with the addition information that they are offered. Highlighting the key point – along with the visual medium – will increase audience retention of that specific information relative to a written article or radio broadcast. However, the phrases are so superficial and pedantic that the viewer will learn nothing; Mr. McLuhan would predict that the audience won’t pay as much attention to the speaker explaining the details and focus on keeping up with the statements on screen.
While it makes a great number of predictions about media as an extension of man’s self, the book is a little long. Some anecdotal evidence is interesting but esoteric and not germane to McLuhan’s argument. On the other hand, the work is very thorough and breaks down many components of daily life, ranging from radio and telephone to games, automobiles, and weapons.
The seminal argument is that it’s not what is on the news that that is important, but how the fact that people are communicating in new ways which is changing how modern life is structured. What becomes unfortunate is that the book (a hot medium) will likely scare away many prospective readers who have been conditioned to receive their information in little bunches as opposed to seeking it out and processing it themselves. So McLuhan may put forth correct theories but less and less people will be aware of them and understanding the effect on their daily lives.