Technology And Its Effects On Society

The proponents of technology have always believed that technology is a product of independent creation and thus follows its own pace. They say that technology is forceful and society does not have a choice but to adapt to the changes that it imposes on the people. The members of any particular society may not be actually happy with the change but eventually they learn to accept it, as a result of which the process of change comes a full circle. This idea however is debatable because many critics point out that technology is in fact a planned phenomenon. Not only this but also they point out that there are certain forces that control and introduce technology into the society and that the expected changes from such an introduction is said to

He also points out that what is said is deeply conditioned by the medium through which it is said. The particular attributes of any medium help to determine the meaning of communication, and no medium is neutral because it brings about a subtle (even if it is insignificant) change in the mind of a person, which gradually adds up and brings about a complete change in a person’s way of thinking, behaving and understanding. One must also mention that these technologies according McLuhan are simply effects of technologies that were introduced earlier on in the society. The idea took shape when the Gutenberg press became a reality and so what one sees today is simply an effect resulting from the continuous process of change in society and in technologies. McLuhan says: “the world of visual perspective is one of unified and homogeneous space. Such a world is alien to the resonating diversity of spoken words. So language was the last art to accept the visual logic of Gutenberg technology, and the first to rebound in the electric age”

Computers are perhaps even more common now (i.e. the medium of communication) but the idea that all books will be available via this medium is still an indigestible fact for most people. However one cannot overlook the changes that electronic publishing have brought about in the world. In spite of it being a new and uncommon idea, electronic publishing has for one thing lived up to McLuhan’s concept of a global village. News and other forms of print material from all over the world can be accessed through the click of a button. For example it does not take much for a person to read a few issues of the Japanese newspaper, Asahi Shimbun (English version) on the Internet. Even though one may not get complete access to it, the fact of the matter is that one does get a preview of the things happening in another part of the world. Not only this but also one may get to know about certain things in the Japanese culture e.g. tea ceremonies, geishas, pop culture etc. all of which contributes to an understanding of the afore-mentioned culture. It is also quite possible that a person may assimilate some aspects of this culture into his/her life and therefore a small but significant change may be brought about in such a