McLuhan's Wake

As a lifelong technophile, I found myself initially resistant to what I perceived the be the Luddite nature of McLuhan's Wake. The day after we watched the video in class, I happened upon another, unrelated, video on comic books, which I've embedded below. Somewhere around the middle, the presenter is discussing the way comic books intersected with the new technology of computers. The first thing that was done was to simply plop the comic onto the screen as though it were a piece of paper in what the presenter called a "classic McLuhanesque mistake".

At this point, I had a sudden realization that I had interpreted McLuhan incorrectly. He was, in fact, stating the same thing I have always felt about the misuse of technology, namely that technology isn't innately good or bad, but that it's use defines its outcome. In trying to force the computer to be a piece of paper, to continue the above example, the technology became an impediment to the art form. Later on, comic artists adapted the comic to the increased possibilities presented by this new medium, what the presenter in the below video termed the "infinite canvas".

This same problem has plagued nearly every implementation of technology I have ever encountered. The users of the technology insist (or maybe can't resist) on seeing any new tool through the lens of the the worldview created by the old tool. Any attempt to do this will result in the tool being a burden to the old processes, rather than a way of augmenting and creating a new one. I've always had this idea, and now I realize I may have gotten it from McLuhan without even realizing it.