Marshall McLuhan, a fixture in media discourse, was interviewed by Eric Norden for Playboy Magazine. In the interview, McLuhan discussed several theories surrounding the media and media technologies. One of McLuhan’s more compelling theories revolved around a term he coined himself, the “global village.” McLuhan’s detailed description of the “global village,” conjures images of our current reality, almost forty years prior to its existence:
“The transformations are taking place everywhere around us. The cities, corporate extensions of our physical organs, are withering and being translated along with all other such extensions into information systems, as television and the jet — by compressing time and space — make all the world one village and destroy the old city-country dichotomy. New York, Chicago, Los Angeles — all will disappear like the dinosaur. The electric media will create a world of dropouts from the old fragmented society, with its neatly compartmentalized analytic functions, and cause people to drop in to the new integrated global-village community”. [1]
When McLuhan first conceptualized the idea of a “global village,” the world was a different place. Information was largely limited to its own geographic location. With the invention of the printing press, and later photographs, feelings of time and space began to compress. Such feelings were intensified with the invention of the telephone, television, and improved air travel. However there was no particular medium that was as instantaneous, convenient, and expansive as that of the Internet.
On the Internet, physical distance was no longer a barrier to the real-time communication. Thus, social spheres were greatly expanded by the openness of the web. The ease at which people could search for online communities and interact with others that share the same interests was unimaginable. In a matter of a few years, the Internet has consolidated itself as a very powerful platform that has changed the way we do business, and the way we communicate. The Internet has become the universal source of information for millions of people, at home, at school, and at work. E-mail enables us to bypass the time delay of letters and send texts directly to the person in seconds. Instant messengers are free compared to the telephone and you can have more than one conversation at once. Video messaging eliminates the need to travel, as you can see anyone around the world from the comfort of your home.
Work Cited
[1] “The Playboy Interview: Marshall McLuhan.” Heim.ifi.uio.no. Playboy, Mar. 1969. Web. 07 Oct. 2009. http://heim.ifi.uio.no/~gisle/links/mcluhan/pb.html.
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