CBC Television News - Understanding McLuhan, finally 1995

The Story: In 1995 Marshall McLuhan's idea of an interconnected world run by a circuitry system is no longer just a theory. A new medium called "the Internet" sounds a lot like McLuhan's ideas of world connectivity. In the 1960s the media theorist and University of Toronto professor predicted a system similar to the Internet. Derrick de Kerckhove, once a student and assistant of McLuhan's, says the information highway has caught up with us.
In this CBC TV clip, de Kerckhove explains: "I think that McLuhan had predicted that. Had we all read McLuhan carefully ... we'd probably be faster and better, more ready to get on with it."

Did You Know?:
• As early as 1964 McLuhan predicted there would be a "discarnate experience" with the electronic age. He believed people would develop relationships through electronic means alone.
• In January 1996 Wired magazine listed Marshall McLuhan under its masthead with the job title "Patron Saint."
• Derrick de Kerckhove worked with McLuhan at the University of Toronto's Centre for Culture and Technology.
• The professor founded the Centre for Culture and Technology in 1963. After his death the centre remained open, run by his disciples, including de Kerckhove.
• De Kerckhove has since translated McLuhan's From Cliché to Archetype into French.

Credits:
Medium: Television
Program: CBC Television News
Broadcast Date: June 14, 1995
Reporter: Mike Wise
Guest(s): Paul Benedetti, Derrick de Kerckhove
Duration: 1:33

Category:

Education

Tags:

• mcluhan
• cbc
• media
• theory
• culture