Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man

1st edition/5th printing (1964)

The classic volume on the effects of electronic communications upon humanity. Terms and phrases such as “the global village” and “the medium is the message” are now part of the lexicon, and McLuhan’s theories continue to challenge our sensibilities and our assumptions about how and what we communicate.

There has been a notable resurgence of interest in McLuhan’s work in the last few years, fueled by the recent and continuing conjunctions between the cable companies and the regional phone companies, the appearance of magazines such as WiRed, and the development of new media models and information ecologies, many of which were spawned from MIT’s Media Lab. In effect, media now begs to be redefined.