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The medium is the massage
Zufällige Klärung einer Frage, die mich vor langer Zeit mal beschäftigte: Auf der offiziellen Marshall McLuhan-Webseite gibt es in einer Fragen- und Antwortenliste eine Erklärung wie der Titel eines seiner bekanntesten Bücher entstanden ist.
Why is the title of the book "The medium is the massage" and not "The medium is the message"?
Actually, the title was a mistake. When the book came back from the typesetter's, it had on the cover "Massage" as it still does. The title was supposed to have read "The Medium is the Message" but the typesetter had made an error. When Marshall McLuhan saw the typo he exclaimed, "Leave it alone! It's great, and right on target!" Now there are possible four readings for the last word of the title, all of them accurate: "Message" and "Mess Age," "Massage" and "Mass Age."
August 13, 2007