McLuhan's Wake

For McHulan's Tetrad i chose to work with the cellphone.

1. The obvious enhancement from the cellphone is the human voice. Besides that, the cellphone is also portable, which allows people to be in communication all the time and assuming they have a good signal everywhere, the cellphone connects people from all around the world. And if you look at certain phones like the iphone, people not only can call everyone all the time, they can also be connected through e-mail, internet connection and text messages.

2.Because of the invention of the cellphone and the calling plans that cellphone companies now have, a lot of people are now using their cellphone as their main phoneline...making their landline obsolete. Many people feel that having a landline at this point is pointless because if someone calls you at home and no one answers, then they end up just calling your cellphone anyway. It really becomes more economical sometimes to just have a cellphone these days because of the hundreds of cellphone calling plans that companies make that fit into different people's lives. They have the plan for the working mother, the single man, the senior citizens etc..

3. The positive aspect of the cellphone is not only the communication aspect, but it also makes people much more efficient. For example with the iphone or some other PDA, if you want to see how much is in your bank account or need to pay a bill, instead of having to look at it in the computer or having to go to the bank, you can just look at it in your cellphone and pay your bills no matter where you are. Or, if you get an email...instead of only seeing it when you are in front of a computer, you will see it instantly wherever you are and will be able to answer instantly.

4. Even though the cellphone was made the bring people from all over the world closer together because they can have constant communication, people now tend to use their cellphone even when they can talk to someone in person. It has become the norm to talk on the cell or text someone instead of having to talk to them face-to-face because it is much more efficient to just do it from wherever they are instead of having to go meet someone. More and more, people are even talking less on their phone and simply texting because texting is something you can do all the time, even when other people are talking around you (which is one of the draw-backs of talking on the phone). One thing that is a "reverse" of the cellphone is that even though you seem to be able to do anything on your phone (while completely isolating yourself in the process), you can only do those things assuming your cellphone works. When your cellphone does not work, then it almost seems like it completely hinders your entire day.

I think that the laws in the movie are important because it makes us think about the good and bad things about new technologies. I think that people these days take for granted that every aspect of new technologies and assume that they are all good...but the reality is that everything has its drawbacks. As with the example I used, the cellphone (specifically the iphone), even though the iphone has great applications, makes your life easier and and things every efficient, it also is making people much more isolated. Instead of having to go through the "hassle" of talking to someone or doing anything in person, people are resorting to text messages and such...anything that will save us from having to spend more time than we have to on something, even if it means we lose some human contact