Toward Developing a Philosophy of Web
"We look at the present through a rear-view mirror. We march backwards into the future" -- Marshall McLuhan The President of MIT addressing the graduating class at Princeton University in 1980 had this remark: "We have created a generation of engineers that are capable of solving any challenge you put to them. Unfortunately, they are unable to determine which challenges are worthwhile." This comment has gone a long way to bringing about this current section of the AWM publication. We have an ever increasing variety of technologies and "gadgets" for the web... but many key issues remain unaddressed... Jakob Nielsen once remarked that while our browser software varieties have increased media type handling, speed, and layout capabilities in ever new versions of HTML, they have not addressed the need for better navigation on the web. These are just two examples. We have determined to make available to otherwise savvy folks some commentary on the nature of interactive media, on the concepts of the impact of this new media on society, business, and the personal lives of people around the world.
The Medium is the Message? Marshal McLuhan once said that the "medium is the message" and then changed that last word to "massage"... His works opened an entire new approach to understanding media and their impacts on people. We will try to expand on that... We strongly urge you to read the materials in this section... We can't force you to, but we would if we could. This area of the site contains articles, notes, and links to other resources that will help you answer these and many other questions. |
New Media Philosophy
