Is TV Almost Worthless?

[EffEmDoubleyou]

Sure it is - the medium is the message.

When you read a book, you see as a literate individual.

And when you watch TV, you are touched by tribal feeling.

Why must you choose one or the other? I've found that several posters seem to think you must. Can't a well-rounded individual both read and watch TV?

And McLuhan's comment is value-neutral. "The medium is the message" simply means that each medium disseminates information in a different fashion and thus alters the meaning. Thus, a news story reported in the newspaper or on television will conjure different feelings in the recipient even if the information is the same. It's up to the content itself to determine if that is a good thing or not.

 

[Mole]

"The medium is the message" simply means that each medium disseminates information in a different fashion and thus alters the meaning.

Actually, "The medium is the message", says that the meaning in irrelevant.

It says that the medium itself that is important.

It is a common mistake to focus on the meaning as if that is what the medium is all about.

The naive think that it is their meaning they are expressing. And that the medium is simply a medium of expression.

To focus on the meaning is a protestant idea, while to focus on the medium is a catholic idea.

So the protestants look for literal meaning in the bible, while catholics use the bible ritually, symbolically and make it an icon.

Apple were the first to introduce icons and so are catholic. While Microsoft required you to read their manual, their bible, and literally understand it, before you could operate the MS system. So Microsoft are protestant.

And it is important to remember that the content of any medium is the previous medium.

For instance, the content of television is theatre.

So the content of each new media environment is the previous media environment, stacked inside each other like Russian dolls.

So the meaning is to distract the watchdog of the mind, while the medium goes to work.

 

[Mort Belfry]

Sometimes being angry is a lot of fun. Towards that end TV has worth.

 

[TenebrousReflection]

Do I find television worthless? - No.
There are shows I watch for entertainment and some for either learning or keeping updated on current events, so I find some worth in it.


Do I think I'm paying more for for it than its worth - highly probable.
There are (were) 3 shows I go out of my way to watch (BSG, Fringe and The Mentalist) and a handful of shows I enjoy watching but could live without (Mythbusters, Digging for the Truth. Ancient Discoveries, Dollhouse, Lie To Me and probably a few I'm forgetting (which shows their importance)). The news I can get from radio or on-line and probably be more informed, but I do enjoy the lazy factor of being able to get home and turn on the TV to get a basic overview of current events.

If I were to quantify what I spend on cable and just allocate it to buying the season DVDs of the shows I like when they are released, I may actually be better off financially, but aside from the waiting issue, if I and everyone else were to do that, the ratings would plummet and the shows would probably get canceled (despite being a great show Firefly did not get good enough ratings to sustain it beyond its first and only season, so I'm a bit paranoid about favourite shows gettign canceled if they don't get good ratings). I think eventually the distribution and compensation model for television will change in the face of its pending obsolescence, but for now willful resistance of the existing system is not advantageous to continuing the life of my favorite shows, so TV has worth in the sense that without it, stuff I might enjoy watching might never see the light of day. - not being a nielson household, I know what I watch or do not watch does not actually matter, but its the concept extended to assume what might happen if those that are did that.

Beyond how it affects me directly, I think there is also great worth in TV if a show like Numb3rs, Mythbusters, or any show on The Discovery or History channels inspires someone to want to learn more about math, science, history or anything else. Another value some well written shows have is to reach the masses with ideas that they might not be comfortable digesting in a news or debate format - by framing ideas in a different entertainment based context they can be put on a more neutral field so that one is more likely to look at it objectively and see multiple sides of the issue.

 

[Oberon]

Whaddya mean "almost"?!?

 

[527468]

Yes? No?

It's very rare that I find something on TV that's worth watching. I usually end up watching local TV or weird ass, alternative channels up in the 9000s.

I love TV! I don't watch it much, but when I do it can be quite entertaining and give me something to think about. If I need to watch a program for causality, I can usually find something to schedule in advance, or try to find what I'm looking for at YouTube - Broadcast Yourself..

 

[EffEmDoubleyou]

[youtube=OpIYz8tfGjY]McLuhan Pwns Blowhard[/youtube]