It is not surprising, then, that half of the people I know seem to look upon the computer as an omnipotent, playful genie while the other half see it as Frankensteins monster. And as if that were not amazing enough, it also runs our warplanes and plays a masterly game of chess. The computer of the 1990s, with its ability to transport us to virtual places, to connect us with people at the other end of the earth, and to retrieve vast quantities of information, combines aspects of all of these. (Are people meant to move across the ocean like the fish Are peoples words supposed to be transmitted by dead paper or cold wires ) The boat, car, and airplane are seemingly magical extensions of our arms and legs the telephone extends our voices and the book extends our memory. Any industrial technology that dramatically extends our capabilities also makes us uneasy by challenging our concept of humanity itself. Sven Birkerts The birth of a new medium of communication is both exhilarating and frightening. We are experiencing the gradual but steady erosion.of the species itself. Marshall McLuhan Our various improvements not only mark a diminution of the function improved upon.but they also work to dissolve some of the fundamental authority of the human itself. Murray All media as extensions of ourselves serve to provide new transforming vision and awareness. From the Book: Introduction to Hamlet on the Holodeck by Janet H.
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