1. Understanding New Media And Old in Four Fun Steps Mike Dorsher, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Communication and Journalism University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire

2. Origins Marshall McLuhan, 1911-1980 Marshall McLuhan, 1911-1980 l “The medium is the message” 1964 F “The medium is the massage” 1967 l “Laws of Media: The New Science” 1988 F Finished by his son, Eric McLuhan F An airplane, ultimately, becomes … F a projectile

3. All media, simultaneously: Retrieve some facets of older media Retrieve some facets of older media Extend some sense or organ of the user Extend some sense or organ of the user Obsolesce, or close, another sense Obsolesce, or close, another sense Reverse into some unintended form Reverse into some unintended form l When pushed near their limits

4. e.g., a Xerox copy machine: just as the fast Gutenberg press enlarged the reading public, now the speed of printing becomes the speed of light (via photographic process) With reader as publisher, the reading public disappears ENHANCES: the speed of the printing press REVERSES INTO: everybody becomes a publisher RETRIEVES: the oral traditionOBSOLESCES: the assembly-line book The (tribal) committee, via position papers (the happening) Familiarity breeds. Consensus, e.g., the ‘Pentagon Papers.’ you make your own book: books no longer uniform and repeatable

5. My research goals Rescue the “Laws of Media” from obscurity Rescue the “Laws of Media” from obscurity Apply them to new media born since 1988 Apply them to new media born since 1988 Reveal how media already distort our lives Reveal how media already distort our lives Forecast how today’s new media will mature Forecast how today’s new media will mature -- and ultimately what they will morph into

6. Digital Video Recorders retrieve: Computers Computers DVDs DVDs VCRs VCRs Cable TV Cable TV The Internet The Internet F Cybernetics; i.e., constant correcting feedback

7. DVRs extend or enhance: Time shifting Time shifting Commercial skipping Commercial skipping Live sports telecasts Live sports telecasts Dataveillance Dataveillance Online marketing Online marketing Online shopping Online shopping

8. DVRs obsolesce: VCRs VCRs Catalog shopping Catalog shopping Commercials Commercials Producer-created special effects Producer-created special effects Watching sports live Watching sports live Viewers’ home privacy Viewers’ home privacy

9. DVRs reverse into: Nonlinear media Nonlinear media Commercials with program breaks Commercials with program breaks Video jukeboxes Video jukeboxes Gesellschaft Gesellschaft l i.e., uncommon ground