Kelsey Steven - The Gutenberg Galaxy

The Gutenberg Galaxy by Marshall McLuhan is a close look at how a new technology will reshape the world. He covers the transition from an oral culture to a written culture, and then from a written culture to an electronic culture. Some people today believe that our move into a culture dominated by electronic media is harmful to our society because it destroys the art of handwriting and makes us lazy. Where this view does have merit, it is ignorant of history. People felt this way when the move into a written society was occurring and worried the the art of memorization would be lost. In a modern world, we could not imagine living without writing. So, who's to say that in a few years time, when electronics have become as normal as writing is today, that it would be arbitrary to argue that electronics are detrimental to society.