Much ado about technological determination [Comm blog entry #3]

Having lived through the... birth, no that's not quite right, the infancy of internet rather, i was wondering if the theory of technological determination would apply to the internet, as compared to television which it was originally designed for it in mind. Furthermore, the theory was developed by MacLuhan in about 1967, I wonder if the theory still has any relevance today, let's see...

The medium is the message/massage? The medium here in question would be the computer in which is how one accesses the internet. So the act of using the internet shape how we think and act, well... that would be a resounding "no!"

The internet now is highly personalised, one can choose what to consume and not be as hapless as television viewers who have no control on what programming the television networks choose to screen. Everything online is now effectively "on-demand"; whatever content we choose; whenever we choose to consume it. So obviously one would have to think about what choice he or she might want to consume online first before consumption and not the other way round!

New technologies bring new expectations of immediacy. Oh hell yes! This immediacy was not so pronounced at first, one could get regular updates on news and stories on numerous news websites and blogs by the hour if one wanted to. Now we have certain online tools that let us update (or be updated) to the very second!! What are those tools? I have just two words for you, "facebook" and "twitter", and not to mention "youtube" which allows one to watch anything instantaneously! 'Nuff said!!!

One of the more disturbing trends of this theory is that prolonged use of "hot" media would affect attention through unequal stimulation of the brain lobes. Use of the internet and related modern technologies only stimulate the visual and spatial right side of the brain. As a result, the more analytical and abstract left side of the brain doesn't get a workout, so to speak.

It would not be rare to see young children now absorbed in the use of the internet, videogames, handphones and whatnot. I wonder if they would be able to get enough "exericse" in the left brain to think about things rationally and carefully. They would find it difficult to engage in deep thought about certain issues if that is the case and it seems to be cause for worry.

42 years on, MacLuhan's theory of techonlogical determination still has a relative applicability in this day and age.

Here's a little video to feed you a little food for thought...