Marshall McLuhan on Cold vs Hot Media
= “…the effect of a medium is in what it omits and what we supply.” (McLuhan to Muller-Thym, 1960) [1]
Contextual Quote
"“There is a basic principle that distinguishes a hot medium like radio from a cool one like the telephone, or a hot medium like the movie from a cool one like TV.
A hot medium Is one that extends one single sense in ‘high definition.’ High definition is the state of being well-filled with data. A photograph is, visually, ‘high definition.’
A cartoon is ‘low definition,’ simply because very little visual information is provided.
Telephone is a cool medium, or one of low definition, because the ear is given a meagre amount of information. And speech is a cool medium of low definition, because so little is given and so much has to be filled in by the listener.
On the other hand, hot media do not leave so much to be filled in or completed by the audience.
Hot media are, therefore low in participation, and cool media are high in participation or completion by the audience.
Naturally, therefore, a hot medium like radio has very different effects on the user from a cool medium like the telephone.”
- Marshall McLuhan [2]
Description
Andrew McLuhan:
"Hot and Cool are relative to each other, technical terms to describe the relative high or low definition or amount of data or information being delivered to a user, and the corresponding reaction from the user. Higher definition or stimulation, lower response from the user. A lower amount of definition, or information, or stimulation, requires more from the user to complete the meaning."
(https://mcluhan.substack.com/p/2-media-hot-and-cold)
Marshall McLuhan:
"“There is a basic principle that distinguishes a hot medium like radio from a cool one like the telephone, or a hot medium like the movie from a cool one like TV. A hot medium Is one that extends one single sense in ‘high definition.’ High definition is the state of being well-filled with data. A photograph is, visually, ‘high definition.’ A cartoon is ‘low definition,’ simply because very little visual information is provided. Telephone is a cool medium, or one of low definition, because the ear is given a meagre amount of information. And speech is a cool medium of low definition, because so little is given and so much has to be filled in by the listener. On the other hand, hot media do not leave so much to be filled in or completed by the audience. Hot media are, therefore low in participation, and cool media are high in participation or completion by the audience. Naturally, therefore, a hot medium like radio has very different effects on the user from a cool medium like the telephone.” (Understanding Media, p. 22)
(https://mcluhan.substack.com/p/2-media-hot-and-cold)
Characteristics
From the Wikipedia:
"In the first part of Understanding Media, McLuhan also states that different media invite different degrees of participation on the part of a person who chooses to consume a medium. Some media, such as film, were "hot" - that is, they enhance one single sense, in this case vision, in such a manner that a person does not need to exert much effort in filling in the details of a movie image. McLuhan contrasted this with "cool" TV, which he claimed requires more effort on the part of viewer to determine meaning, and comics, which due to their minimal presentation of visual detail require a high degree of effort to fill in details that the cartoonist may have intended to portray. A movie is thus said by McLuhan to be "hot", intensifying one single sense "high definition", demanding a viewer's attention, and a comic book to be "cool" and "low definition", requiring much more conscious participation by the reader to extract value.
"Any hot medium allows of less participation than a cool one, as a lecture makes for less participation than a seminar, and a book for less than a dialogue."
Hot media usually, but not always, provide complete involvement without considerable stimulus. For example, print occupies visual space, uses visual senses, but can immerse its reader. Hot media favour analytical precision, quantitative analysis and sequential ordering, as they are usually sequential, linear and logical. They emphasize one sense (for example, of sight or sound) over the others. For this reason, hot media also include radio, as well as film, the lecture and photography.
Cool media, on the other hand, are usually, but not always, those that provide little involvement with substantial stimulus. They require more active participation on the part of the user, including the perception of abstract patterning and simultaneous comprehension of all parts. Therefore, according to McLuhan cool media include television, as well as the seminar and cartoons. McLuhan describes the term "cool media" as emerging from jazz and popular music and, in this context, is used to mean "detached"."