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101-697: McLuhan pointed to the light bulb as an example. A light bulb does not have content in the way that a newspaper has articles or a television has programs, yet it is a medium that has a social effect; that is, a light bulb enables people to create spaces during nighttime that would otherwise be enveloped by darkness. He describes the light bulb as a medium without any content. McLuhan states that "a light bulb creates an environment by its mere presence". More controversially, he postulated that content had little effect on society—in other words, it did not matter if television broadcasts children's shows or violent programming. He noted that all media have characteristics that engage

202-402: A grow light to aid in plant growth especially in indoor hydroponics and aquatic plants with recent research into the most effective types of light for plant growth. Due to their nonlinear resistance characteristics, tungsten filament lamps have long been used as fast-acting thermistors in electronic circuits. Popular uses have included: In Western culture, a lightbulb — in particular,

303-581: A monochromatic orange-yellow light, which gives a similarly monochromatic perception of any illuminated scene. For this reason, it is generally reserved for outdoor public lighting applications. Low-pressure sodium lights are favoured for public lighting by astronomers, since the light pollution that they generate can be easily filtered, contrary to broadband or continuous spectra. Many lamp units, or light bulbs, are specified in standardized shape codes and socket names. Incandescent bulbs and their retrofit replacements are often specified as " A19 /A60 E26 /E27",

404-553: A vice president at NBC at 6 A.M. and ordered him to find Baer "a job by 9 o'clock" that same morning. The NBC vice president complied with Sarnoff's request. David Sarnoff was initiated to the Scottish Rite Freemasonry in the Renovation Lodge No. 97, Albion, NY. The David Sarnoff Library, a library and museum open to the public containing many historical items from David Sarnoff's life

505-402: A "change of scale or pace or shape or pattern into human association, affairs, and action", which results in "psychic, and social consequences". This is the real "meaning or message" brought by a medium, a social and psychic message, and it depends solely on the medium itself, regardless of the 'content' emitted by it. This is basically the meaning of " the medium is the message ". To demonstrate

606-480: A "narcissistic hypnosis" that prevents us from seeing the real nature of the media. McLuhan also says that a characteristic of every medium is that its content is always another (previous) medium. For an example in the new millennium, the Internet is a medium whose content is various media which came before it—the printing press, radio and the moving image. An overlooked, constantly repeated understanding McLuhan has

707-508: A base made of ceramic , metal, glass, or plastic which secures the lamp in the socket of a light fixture , which is often called a "lamp" as well. The electrical connection to the socket may be made with a screw-thread base, two metal pins, two metal caps or a bayonet mount . The three main categories of electric lights are incandescent lamps, which produce light by a filament heated white-hot by electric current , gas-discharge lamps , which produce light by means of an electric arc through

808-516: A career of over 60 years in electronic communications . Over the next 13 years , Sarnoff rose from office boy to commercial manager of the company, learning about the technology and the business of electronic communications on the job and in libraries. He also served at Marconi stations on ships and posts on Siasconset , Nantucket and the New York Wanamaker Department Store . In 1911, he installed and operated

909-506: A common size for those kinds of light bulbs. In this example, the "A" parameters describe the bulb size and shape within the A-series light bulb while the "E" parameters describe the Edison screw base size and thread characteristics. Common comparison parameters include: Less common parameters include color rendering index (CRI). Life expectancy for many types of lamp is defined as

1010-414: A complete ban on incandescent bulbs would contribute 5 to 10 billion euros to the economy and save 15 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions . Halogen lamps are usually much smaller than standard incandescent lamps, because for successful operation a bulb temperature over 200 °C is generally necessary. For this reason, most have a bulb of fused silica (quartz) or aluminosilicate glass. This

1111-429: A detached position, one can predict and control the effects of the medium. This is difficult because "the spell can occur immediately upon contact, as in the first bars of a melody". One historical example of such detachment is Alexis de Tocqueville and the medium of typography . He was in such position because he was highly literate. Instead, an historical example of the embrace of technological assumptions happened with

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1212-435: A gas, such as fluorescent lamps , and LED lamps , which produce light by a flow of electrons across a band gap in a semiconductor . The energy efficiency of electric lighting has increased radically since the first demonstration of arc lamps and the incandescent light bulb of the 19th century. Modern electric light sources come in a profusion of types and sizes adapted to many applications. Most modern electric lighting

1313-422: A glass or silica envelope containing two metal electrodes separated by a gas. Gases used include, neon , argon , xenon , sodium , metal halides , and mercury . The core operating principle is much the same as the carbon arc lamp, but the term "arc lamp" normally refers to carbon arc lamps, with more modern types of gas discharge lamp normally called discharge lamps. With some discharge lamps, very high voltage

1414-413: 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

1515-480: 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

1616-420: A long line of "academics who have made a career out of deconstructing McLuhan’s effort to define the modern media ecosystem", whether it be due to what they see as McLuhan's ignorance toward socio-historical context or the style of his argument. While some critics have taken issue with McLuhan's writing style and mode of argument, McLuhan himself urged readers to think of his work as "probes" or "mosaics" offering

1717-424: 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

1818-750: A patent suit that gave it the coastal stations of the United Wireless Telegraph Company . Sarnoff also demonstrated the first use of radio on a railroad line, the Lackawanna Railroad Company's link between Binghamton, New York , and Scranton, Pennsylvania ; and permitted and observed Edwin Armstrong 's demonstration of his regenerative receiver at the Marconi station at Belmar, New Jersey . Sarnoff used H. J. Round 's hydrogen arc transmitter to demonstrate

1919-817: A poet than a historian, a master of intellectual collage rather than a systematic analyst.... McLuhan overemphasizes the technology behind cultural change at the expense of the usage that the messages and codes make of that technology." Dwight Macdonald , in turn, reproached McLuhan for his focus on television and for his "aphoristic" style of prose, which he believes left Understanding Media filled with "contradictions, non-sequiturs, facts that are distorted and facts that are not facts, exaggerations, and chronic rhetorical vagueness". Additionally, Brian Winston ’s Misunderstanding Media , published in 1986, chides McLuhan for what he sees as his technologically deterministic stances. Raymond Williams and James W. Carey further this point of contention, claiming: The work of McLuhan

2020-619: A renowned physicist and GE consultant, reported to the GE lamp department on successful experiments with fluorescent lighting at General Electric Co., Ltd. in Great Britain (unrelated to General Electric in the United States). Stimulated by this report, and with all of the key elements available, a team led by George E. Inman built a prototype fluorescent lamp in 1934 at General Electric 's Nela Park (Ohio) engineering laboratory. This

2121-582: A subsequent essay published in Life as part of its "The National Purpose" series, he was critical of the tentative stand being taken by the United States in fighting the political and psychological warfare being waged by Soviet -led international Communism against the West . He strongly advocated an aggressive, multi-faceted fight in the ideological and political realms with a determination to decisively win

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2222-518: A system developed by EMI based on Russian research and Zworykin's work was adopted in Britain and the BBC had a regular television service from 1936 onwards. However, World War II put a halt to a dynamic growth of the early television development stages. At the onset of World War II, Sarnoff served on Eisenhower's communications staff, arranging expanded radio circuits for NBC to transmit news from

2323-657: A system virtually identical to RCA's in August 1952. On December 17, 1953, the FCC approved RCA's system as the new standard. In 1955, Sarnoff received The Hundred Year Association of New York 's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York." In 1959 Sarnoff was a member of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund panel to report on U.S. foreign policy. As a member of that panel and in

2424-463: A toolkit approach to thinking about the media. His eclectic writing style has also been praised for its postmodern sensibilities and suitability for virtual space. McLuhan's theories about "the medium is the message" link culture and society. A recurrent topic is the contrast between oral cultures and print culture . Each new form of media, according to the analysis of McLuhan, shapes messages differently thereby requiring new filters to be engaged in

2525-905: Is 50–100 lumens per watt, several times the efficacy of incandescent bulbs with comparable light output. Fluorescent lamp fixtures are more costly than incandescent lamps, because they require a ballast to regulate the current through the lamp, but the lower energy cost typically offsets the higher initial cost. Compact fluorescent lamps are available in the same popular sizes as incandescent lamps and are used as an energy-saving alternative in homes. Because they contain mercury, many fluorescent lamps are classified as hazardous waste . The United States Environmental Protection Agency recommends that fluorescent lamps be segregated from general waste for recycling or safe disposal, and some jurisdictions require recycling of them. The solid-state light-emitting diode (LED) has been popular as an indicator light in consumer electronics and professional audio gear since

2626-412: Is defined as a hot medium, since in the context of a dark movie theater, the viewer is completely captivated, and one primary sense—visual—is filled in high definition. In contrast, television is a cool medium, since many other things may be going on and the viewer has to integrate all of the sounds and sights in the context. In Part One , McLuhan discusses the differences between hot and cool media and

2727-465: Is often sealed inside an additional layer of glass. The outer glass is a safety precaution, to reduce ultraviolet emission and to contain hot glass shards should the inner envelope explode during operation. Oily residue from fingerprints may cause a hot quartz envelope to shatter due to excessive heat buildup at the contamination site. The risk of burns or fire is also greater with bare bulbs, leading to their prohibition in some places, unless enclosed by

2828-484: Is powered by centrally generated electric power, but lighting may also be powered by mobile or standby electric generators or battery systems. Battery -powered light is often reserved for when and where stationary lights fail, often in the form of flashlights or electric lanterns , as well as in vehicles. Before electric lighting became common in the early 20th century, people used candles , gas lights , oil lamps , and fires . In 1799–1800, Alessandro Volta created

2929-557: Is sufficient for cities to be easily visible at night from the air, and from space. External lighting grew at a rate of 3–6 percent for the later half of the 20th century and is the major source of light pollution that burdens astronomers and others with 80% of the world's population living in areas with night time light pollution. Light pollution has been shown to have a negative effect on some wildlife. Electric lamps can be used as heat sources, for example in incubators , as infrared lamps in fast food restaurants and toys such as

3030-417: Is that moral judgement (for better or worse) of an individual using media is very difficult, because of the psychic effects media have on society and their users. Moreover, media and technology, for McLuhan, are not necessarily inherently "good" or "bad" but bring about great change in a society's way of life. Awareness of the changes are what McLuhan seemed to consider most important, so that, in his estimation,

3131-407: Is the deciding factor, such as street lighting. More advanced electronic ballasts may be designed to maintain constant light output over the life of the lamp, may drive the lamp with a square wave to maintain completely flicker-free output, and shut down in the event of certain faults. The most efficient source of electric light is the low-pressure sodium lamp. It produces, for all practical purposes,

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3232-439: Is the message" in relation to the convergence of technology, specifically the computer. In his book Tools for Thought Rheingold explains the notion of the universal machine - the original conception of the computer. Eventually computers will no longer use information but knowledge to operate, in effect thinking . If in the future computers (the medium) are everywhere, then what becomes of McLuhan's message? According to McLuhan,

3333-420: Is to a poem: the former derive their meaning from the context formed by the latter. Like Harold Innis , McLuhan looked to the broader culture and society within which a medium conveys its messages to identify patterns of the medium's effects. 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

3434-615: Is used to strike the arc. This requires an electrical circuit called an igniter, which is part of the electrical ballast circuitry. After the arc is struck, the internal resistance of the lamp drops to a low level, and the ballast limits the current to the operating current. Without a ballast, excess current would flow, causing rapid destruction of the lamp. Some lamp types contain a small amount of neon, which permits striking at normal running voltage with no external ignition circuitry. Low-pressure sodium lamps operate this way. The simplest ballasts are just an inductor, and are chosen where cost

3535-415: Is useful for lighting designers , because of its low power consumption, low heat generation, instantaneous on/off control, and in the case of single color LEDs, continuity of color throughout the life of the diode and relatively low cost of manufacture. LED lifetime depends strongly on the temperature of the diode. Operating an LED lamp in conditions that increase the internal temperature can greatly shorten

3636-596: The AM broadcasting radio business that became the preeminent public radio standard for the majority of the 20th century. Sarnoff negotiated successful contracts to form Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO), a film production and distribution company. Essential elements in that new company were RCA, the Film Booking Offices of America (FBO), and the Keith-Albee-Orpheum (KAO) theater chain. When Sarnoff

3737-593: The Brigadier General 's star in December 1945, and thereafter was known as "General Sarnoff." The star, which he proudly and frequently wore, was buried with him. Sarnoff anticipated that post-war America would need an international radio voice explaining its policies and positions. In 1943, he tried to influence Secretary of State Cordell Hull to include radio broadcasting in post-war planning. In 1947, he lobbied Secretary of State George Marshall to expand

3838-618: The Cold War . Sarnoff retired in 1970, at the age of 79, and died the following year, aged 80. He is interred in a mausoleum featuring a stained-glass vacuum tube in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York . After his death, Sarnoff left behind an estate estimated to be worth over $ 1 million. The majority of the estate went to his widow, Lizette Hermant Sarnoff, who received $ 300,000, personal and household effects in addition to

3939-701: The Educational Alliance . In 1906 his father became incapacitated by tuberculosis , and at age 15 Sarnoff went to work to support the family. He had planned to pursue a full-time career in the newspaper business, but a chance encounter led to a position as an office boy at the Commercial Cable Company . When his superior refused him leave for Rosh Hashanah , he joined the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America on September 30, 1906, and started

4040-532: The French Revolution and American Revolution happened under the push of print whereas the preexistence of a strong oral culture in Britain prevented such an effect. Light bulb This is an accepted version of this page An electric light , lamp , or light bulb is an electrical component that produces light . It is the most common form of artificial lighting . Lamps usually have

4141-606: The Titanic ' s survivors. Schwartz questions whether Sarnoff, who was a manager of the telegraphers by the time of the disaster, was working the key although that brushes aside concerns about corporate hierarchy. The event began on a Sunday when the store would have been closed. Over the next two years Sarnoff earned promotions to chief inspector and contracts manager for a company whose revenues swelled after Congress passed legislation mandating continuous staffing of commercial shipboard radio stations. That same year Marconi won

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4242-548: The United States , incandescent light bulbs including halogen bulbs stopped being sold as of August 1, 2023, because they do not meet minimum lumens per watt performance metrics established by the U.S. Department of Energy . Compact fluorescent bulbs are also banned despite their lumens per watt performance because of their toxic mercury that can be released into the home if broken and widespread problems with proper disposal of mercury-containing bulbs. In its modern form,

4343-477: The United States district court to suspend that ruling. Subsequently, he made an appeal to the Supreme Court which eventually upheld the FCC decision. Sarnoff's tenacity and determination to win the "Color War" pushed his engineers to perfect an all-electronic color television system that used a signal that could be received on existing monochrome sets that prevailed. CBS was now unable to take advantage of

4444-510: The Western world , which, heavily influenced by literacy , took its principles of "uniform and continuous and sequential" for the actual meaning of "rational". McLuhan argues that media are languages , with their own structures and systems of grammar, and that they can be studied as such. He believed that media have effects in that they continually shape and re-shape the ways in which individuals, societies, and cultures perceive and understand

4545-786: The invasion of France in June 1944 . In France, Sarnoff arranged for the restoration of the Radio France station in Paris that the Germans destroyed and oversaw the construction of a radio transmitter powerful enough to reach all of the allied forces in Europe, called Radio Free Europe . In recognition of his achievements, Sarnoff was decorated with the Legion of Merit on October 11, 1944. Thanks to his communications skills and support he received

4646-513: The light bulb , cars , speech , and language in his definition of media : all of these, as technologies, mediate our communication; their forms or structures affect how we perceive and understand the world around us. McLuhan says that conventional pronouncements fail in studying media because they focus on content, which blinds them to the psychic and social effects that define the medium's true significance. McLuhan observes that any medium "amplifies or accelerates existing processes", introducing

4747-402: 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". Some theorists have attacked McLuhan's definition and treatment of the word "medium" for being too simplistic. Umberto Eco , for instance, contends that McLuhan's medium conflates channels, codes, and messages under the overarching term of

4848-540: The voltaic pile , the first electric battery. Current from these batteries could heat copper wire to incandescence. Vasily Vladimirovich Petrov developed the first persistent electric arc in 1802, and English chemist Humphry Davy gave a practical demonstration of an arc light in 1806. It took more than a century of continuous and incremental improvement, including numerous designs, patents, and resulting intellectual property disputes, to get from these early experiments to commercially produced incandescent light bulbs in

4949-469: The "amateur" market of radio enthusiasts. Nally deferred on the proposal because of the expanded volume of business during World War I . Throughout the war years, Sarnoff remained Marconi's Commercial Manager, including oversight of the company's factory in Roselle Park, New Jersey . Unlike many who were involved with early radio communications, who often viewed radio as point-to-point, Sarnoff saw

5050-437: The 1870s for large building and street lighting until it was superseded in the early 20th century by the incandescent light. Carbon arc lamps operate at high power and produce high intensity white light. They also are a point source of light. They remained in use in limited applications that required these properties, such as movie projectors , stage lighting , and searchlights , until after World War II. A discharge lamp has

5151-514: The 1900s the Phoebus cartel formed in an attempt to reduce the life of electric light bulbs, an example of planned obsolescence . Some types of lamp are also sensitive to switching cycles. Rooms with frequent switching, such as bathrooms, can expect much shorter lamp life than what is printed on the box. Compact fluorescent lamps are particularly sensitive to switching cycles. The total amount of artificial light (especially from street light )

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5252-446: The 1920s. In 1840, Warren de la Rue enclosed a platinum coil in a vacuum tube and passed an electric current through it, thus creating one of the world's first electric light bulbs . The design was based on the concept that the high melting point of platinum would allow it to operate at high temperatures and that the evacuated chamber would contain fewer gas molecules to react with the platinum, improving its longevity. Although it

5353-455: The 1970s. In the 2000s, efficacy and output have risen to the point where LEDs are now being used in lighting applications such as car headlights and brake lights, in flashlights and bicycle lights, as well as in decorative applications, such as holiday lighting. Indicator LEDs are known for their extremely long life, up to 100,000 hours, but lighting LEDs are operated much less conservatively, and consequently have shorter lives. LED technology

5454-523: The American history of radio and television . He led RCA for most of his career in various capacities from shortly after its founding in 1919 until his retirement in 1970. He headed a conglomerate of telecommunications and media companies, including RCA and NBC , that became one of the largest in the world. Named a Reserve Brigadier General of the Signal Corps in 1945, Sarnoff thereafter

5555-541: The Kenner Easy-Bake Oven . Lamps can also be used for light therapy to deal with such issues as vitamin D deficiency , skin conditions such as acne and dermatitis , skin cancers , and seasonal affective disorder . Lamps which emit a specific frequency of blue light are also used to treat neonatal jaundice with the treatment which was initially undertaken in hospitals being able to be conducted at home. Electric lamps can also be used as

5656-662: The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC ), the first radio network in America. Four years later, Sarnoff became president of RCA. NBC had by that time split into two networks, the Red and the Blue . The Blue Network eventually became ABC Radio. Sarnoff is often inaccurately referred to as the founder of both RCA and NBC, but he was in fact founder of only NBC. Sarnoff was instrumental in building and establishing

5757-690: The New York City area at the time. The standard approved by the National Television System Committee (the NTSC ) in 1941 differed from RCA's standard, but RCA quickly became the market leader of manufactured sets and NBC became the first television network in the United States, connecting their New York City station to stations in Philadelphia and Schenectady for occasional programs in the early 1940s. Meanwhile,

5858-652: The Sarnoff home, located on 44 East 71st Street. On July 4, 1917, Sarnoff married Lizette Hermant, the daughter of a French-Jewish immigrant family who settled in the Bronx as one of his family's neighbors. The Museum of Broadcast Communications describes their 54-year marriage as the bedrock of his life. Lizette was often the first person to hear her husband's new ideas as radio and television became integral to American home life. The couple had three sons. Eldest son Robert W. Sarnoff (1918–1997) succeeded his father at

5959-581: The UK and Thomas Edison in the US independently developing functional incandescent lamps. Swan's bulbs, based on designs by William Staite, were successful, but the filaments were too thick. Edison worked to create bulbs with thinner filaments, leading to a better design. The rivalry between Swan and Edison eventually led to a merger, forming the Edison and Swan Electric Light Company . By the early twentieth century these had completely replaced arc lamps . The turn of

6060-536: The appearance of an illuminated lightbulb above a person's head — signifies sudden inspiration. In the Middle East , a light bulb symbol has a sexual connotation. A stylized depiction of a light bulb features as the logo of the Turkish AK Party . David Sarnoff David Sarnoff (February 27, 1891 – December 12, 1971) was a Russian and American businessman who played an important role in

6161-528: The broadcast of music from the New York Wanamaker station. This demonstration and the AT&;T demonstrations in 1915 of long-distance wireless telephony inspired the first of many memos to his superiors on applications of current and future radio technologies. Sometime late in 1915 or in 1916 he proposed to the company's president, Edward J. Nally , that the company develop a "radio music box" for

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6262-416: The carbon rods are short-lived and require constant adjustment in use, as the intense heat of the arc erodes them. The lamps produce significant ultraviolet output, they require ventilation when used indoors, and due to their intensity they need protection from direct sight. Invented by Humphry Davy around 1805, the carbon arc was the first practical electric light. It was used commercially beginning in

6363-428: The century saw further improvements in bulb longevity and efficiency, notably with the introduction of the tungsten filament by William D. Coolidge , who applied for a patent in 1912. This innovation became a standard for incandescent bulbs for many years. In 1910, Georges Claude introduced the first neon light, paving the way for neon signs which would become ubiquitous in advertising. In 1934, Arthur Compton ,

6464-438: The color market, due to lack of manufacturing capability and color programming, a system that could not be seen on the millions of black and white receivers and sets that were triple the cost of monochrome sets. A few days after CBS had its color premiere on June 14, 1951, RCA demonstrated a fully functional all-electronic color TV system and became the leading manufacturer of color TV sets in the US. CBS system color TV production

6565-533: The company was involved in an antitrust case concerning the original radio patent pool . Sarnoff negotiated an outcome where RCA was no longer partly owned by Westinghouse and General Electric , giving him final say in the company's affairs. Initially, the Great Depression caused RCA to cut costs, but Zworykin's project was protected. After nine years of Zworykin's hard work, Sarnoff's determination, and legal battles with Farnsworth (in which Farnsworth

6666-727: The device for experimentation. Zworykin pitched the concept to Sarnoff, claiming a viable television system could be realized in two years with a mere $ 100,000 investment. Sarnoff opted to fund Zworkyin's research, most likely well-aware that Zworykin was underestimating the scope of his television effort. Seven years later, in late 1935, Zworykin's photograph appeared on the cover of the trade journal Electronics , holding an early RCA photomultiplier prototype. The photomultiplier, subject of intensive research at RCA and in Leningrad, Russia, would become an essential component within sensitive television cameras. On April 24, 1936, RCA demonstrated to

6767-577: The energy consumed is emitted as visible, usable light . The remaining 95% is lost as heat . In warmer climates, the emitted heat must then be removed, putting additional pressure on ventilation or air conditioning systems. In colder weather, the heat byproduct has some value, and has been successfully harnessed for warming in devices such as heat lamps . Incandescent bulbs are nonetheless being phased out in favor of technologies like CFLs and LED bulbs in many countries due to their low energy efficiency. The European Commission estimated in 2012 that

6868-442: The experience of viewing and listening to those messages. McLuhan argues that as "sequence yields to the simultaneous, one is in the world of the structure and of configuration". The main example is the passage from mechanization (processes fragmented into sequences, lineal connections) to electric speed (faster up to simultaneity, creative configuration, structure, total field). Howard Rheingold comments upon McLuhan's "the medium

6969-416: The flaws of the common belief that the message resides in how the medium is used (the content), McLuhan provides the example of mechanization , pointing out that regardless of the product (e.g., corn flakes or Cadillacs ), the impact on workers and society is the same. In a further exemplification of the common unawareness of the real meaning of media, McLuhan says that people "describe the scratch but not

7070-411: The helm of RCA in 1970. Robert's third wife was operatic soprano Anna Moffo . Edward Sarnoff, the middle child, headed Fleet Services of New York. Thomas W. Sarnoff, the youngest, was NBC's West Coast President. Sarnoff was the maternal uncle of screenwriter Richard Baer . Sarnoff was credited with sparking Baer's interest in television. According to Baer's 2005 autobiography , Sarnoff called

7171-437: The incandescent light bulb consists of a coiled filament of tungsten sealed in a globular glass chamber, either a vacuum or full of an inert gas such as argon . When an electric current is connected, the tungsten is heated to 2,000 to 3,300 K (1,730 to 3,030 °C; 3,140 to 5,480 °F) and glows, emitting light that approximates a continuous spectrum . Incandescent bulbs are highly inefficient, in that just 2–5% of

7272-449: The itch". As an example of "media experts" who follow this fundamentally flawed approach, McLuhan quotes a statement from "General" David Sarnoff (head of RCA ), calling it the "voice of the current somnambulism ". Each medium "adds itself on to what we already are", realizing "amputations and extensions" to our senses and bodies, shaping them in a new technical form. As appealing as this remaking of ourselves may seem, it really puts us in

7373-429: The lamp's life. Some lasers have been adapted as an alternative to LEDs to provide highly focused illumination. Carbon arc lamps consist of two carbon rod electrodes in open air, supplied by a current-limiting ballast . The electric arc is struck by touching the rod tips then separating them. The ensuing arc produces a white-hot plasma between the rod tips. These lamps have higher efficacy than filament lamps, but

7474-406: The luminaire. Those designed for 12- or 24-volt operation have compact filaments, useful for good optical control. Also, they have higher efficacies (lumens per watt) and longer lives than non-halogen types. The light output remains almost constant throughout their life. Fluorescent lamps consist of a glass tube that contains mercury vapour or argon under low pressure. Electricity flowing through

7575-461: The media makes of the media an abstract, undifferentiated force and produces its image in an imaginary "public" for mass consumption; the magical naivete of supposed causalities turns the media into a catch-all and contagious "mana"; apocalyptic millenarianism invents the figure of a homo mass-mediaticus without ties to historical and social context, and so on. Furthermore, when Wired interviewed him in 1995, Debray stated that he views McLuhan "more as

7676-414: The medium's first major production, featuring a speech by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the first US president to appear on television. These telecasts were seen only in New York City and the immediate vicinity, since NBC television had only one station at the time, W2XBS Channel 1, now WNBC Channel 4. The broadcast was seen by an estimated 1,000 viewers from the roughly 200 television sets which existed in

7777-421: The medium, confusing the vehicle, internal code, and content of a given message in his framework. In Media Manifestos , Régis Debray also takes issue with McLuhan's envisioning of the medium. Like Eco, he too is ill at ease with this reductionist approach, summarizing its ramifications as follows: The list of objections could be and has been lengthened indefinitely: confusing technology itself with its use of

7878-410: The number of hours of operation at which 50% of them fail, that is the median life of the lamps. Production tolerances as low as 1% can create a variance of 25% in lamp life, so in general some lamps will fail well before the rated life expectancy, and some will last much longer. For LEDs, lamp life is defined as the operation time at which 50% of lamps have experienced a 70% decrease in light output. In

7979-507: The only sure disaster would be a society not perceiving a technology's effects on their world, especially the chasms and tensions between generations. The only possible way to discern the real "principles and lines of force" of a medium (or structure) is to stand aside from it and be detached from it. This is necessary to avoid the powerful ability of any medium to put the unwary into a "subliminal state of Narcissus trance", imposing "its own assumptions, bias, and values" on him. Instead, while in

8080-472: 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

8181-510: The potential of radio as point-to-mass. One person (the broadcaster) could speak to many (the listeners). When Owen D. Young of General Electric arranged the purchase of American Marconi and reorganized it as the Radio Corporation of America , a radio patent monopoly , Sarnoff realized his dream and revived his proposal in a lengthy memo on the company's business and prospects. His superiors again ignored him but he contributed to

8282-434: The press a working iconoscope camera tube and kinescope receiver display tube (an early cathode-ray tube ), two key components of all-electronic television . The final cost of the enterprise was closer to $ 50 million. On the road to success they encountered a legal battle with Farnsworth , who had been granted patents in 1930 for his solution to broadcasting moving pictures. Despite Sarnoff's efforts to prove that he

8383-581: The radical analysis of social change, how society is shaped, and reflected by communications media. Throughout Understanding Media , McLuhan uses historical quotes and anecdotes to probe the ways in which new forms of media change the perceptions of societies, with specific focus on the effects of each medium as opposed to the content that is transmitted by each medium. McLuhan identified two types of media: "hot" media and "cool" media, drawing from French anthropologist Lévi-Strauss ' distinction between hot and cold societies. This terminology does not refer to

8484-577: The rising postwar radio boom by helping arrange for the broadcast of a heavyweight boxing match between Jack Dempsey and Georges Carpentier in July, 1921. Up to 300,000 people listened to the broadcast of the fight, and demand for home radio equipment bloomed that winter. By the spring of 1922, Sarnoff's prediction of popular demand for radio broadcasting had come to pass and over the next few years, he gained much stature and influence. In 1925, RCA purchased its first radio station ( WEAF , New York) and launched

8585-456: The roles of Radio Free Europe and Voice of America . His concerns and proposed solutions were eventually seen as prescient. After the war, monochrome TV production began in earnest. Color TV was the next major development, and NBC once again won the battle. CBS had their electro-mechanical color television system approved by the FCC on October 10, 1950, but Sarnoff filed an unsuccessful suit in

8686-434: The temperature or emotional intensity, nor some kind of classification, but to the degree of participation. Cool media are those that require high participation from users, due to their low definition (the receiver/user must fill in missing information). Since many senses may be used, they foster involvement. Conversely, hot media are low in audience participation due to their high resolution or definition. Film, for example,

8787-415: The time Zworykin was attempting to develop an all-electronic television system at Westinghouse, but with little success. Zworykin had visited the laboratory of the inventor Philo T. Farnsworth , who had developed an Image Dissector, part of a system that could enable a working television. Zworykin was sufficiently impressed with Farnsworth's invention that he had his team at Westinghouse make several copies of

8888-419: The tube causes the gases to give off ultraviolet energy. The inside of the tubes are coated with phosphors that give off visible light when struck by ultraviolet photons . They have much higher efficiency than incandescent lamps. For the same amount of light generated, they typically use around one-quarter to one-third the power of an incandescent. The typical luminous efficacy of fluorescent lighting systems

8989-449: The viewer in different ways; for instance, a passage in a book could be reread at will, but a movie had to be screened again in its entirety to study any individual part of it. The book is the source of the well-known phrase " the medium is the message ". It was a leading indicator of the upheaval of local cultures by increasingly globalized values . The book greatly influenced academics, writers, and social theorists. The book discussed

9090-561: The ways that one medium translates the content of another medium. Briefly, "the content of a medium is always another medium". In Part Two , McLuhan analyzes each medium (circa 1964) in a manner that exposes the form, rather than the content of each medium. In order, McLuhan covers: McLuhan uses interchangeably the words medium , media , and technology . For McLuhan a medium is "any extension of ourselves" or, more broadly, "any new technology". Contrastly, in addition to forms such as newspapers , television , and radio , McLuhan includes

9191-595: The wireless equipment on a ship hunting seals off Newfoundland and Labrador , and used the technology to relay the first remote medical diagnosis from the ship's doctor to a radio operator at Belle Isle with an infected tooth. The following year, he led two other operators at the Wanamaker station in an effort to confirm the fate of the Titanic . Sarnoff later exaggerated his role as the sole hero who stayed by his telegraph key for three days to receive information on

9292-480: The world. In his view, the purpose of media studies is to make visible what is invisible: the effects of media technologies themselves, rather than simply the messages they convey. Media studies therefore, ideally, seeks to identify patterns within a medium and in its interactions with other media. Based on his studies in New Criticism , McLuhan argued that technologies are to words as the surrounding culture

9393-455: Was a particular culmination of an aesthetic theory which became, negatively, a social theory ... It is an apparently sophisticated technological determinism which has the significant effect of indicating a social and cultural determinism ... If the medium - whether print or television – is the cause, of all other causes, all that men ordinarily see as history is at once reduced to effects. (Williams 1990, 126/7) David Carr states that there has been

9494-434: Was an efficient design, the cost of the platinum made it impractical for commercial use. William Greener , an English inventor, made significant contributions to early electric lighting with his lamp in 1846 (patent specification 11076), laying the groundwork for future innovations such as those by Thomas Edison. The late 1870s and 1880s were marked by intense competition and innovation, with inventors like Joseph Swan in

9595-745: Was in Princeton Junction , NJ. The David Sarnoff Library now exists as a virtual museum online. When the Library was operating, The David Sarnoff Radio Club composed of local amateur radio operators used to meet there, as did the New Jersey Antique Radio Club and other community organizations. The exhibits are now on display in Roscoe L. West Hall at The College of New Jersey . In 1999, computer scientist David P. Reed coined Sarnoff's Law, which states that "the value of

9696-433: Was not a trivial exercise; as noted by Arthur A. Bright, "A great deal of experimentation had to be done on lamp sizes and shapes, cathode construction, gas pressures of both argon and mercury vapor, colors of fluorescent powders, methods of attaching them to the inside of the tube, and other details of the lamp and its auxiliaries before the new device was ready for the public." The first practical LED arrived in 1962. In

9797-619: Was proved in the right), they had a commercial system ready to launch. Finally, in April 1939, regularly scheduled, electronic television in America was initiated by RCA under the name of their broadcasting division at the time, The National Broadcasting Company (NBC). The first television broadcast aired was the dedication of the RCA pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fairgrounds and was introduced by Sarnoff himself. Later that month on April 30, opening day ceremonies at The World's Fair were telecast in

9898-409: Was put in charge of radio broadcasting at RCA, he soon recognized the potential for television , i.e., the combination of motion pictures with electronic transmission. Schemes for television had long been proposed (well before World War I) but with no practical outcome. Sarnoff was determined to lead his company in pioneering the medium and met with Westinghouse engineer Vladimir Zworykin in 1928. At

9999-524: Was suspended in October 1951 for the duration of the Korean War . As more people bought monochrome sets, it was increasingly unlikely that CBS could achieve any success with its incompatible system. Few receivers were sold, and there were almost no color broadcasts, especially in prime time, when CBS could not run the risk of broadcasting a program which few could see. The NTSC was reformed and recommended

10100-728: Was the inventor of the television, he was ordered to pay Farnsworth $ 1,000,000 in royalties, a small price to settle the dispute for an invention that would profoundly revolutionize the world. However this sum was never paid to Farnsworth. In 1929, Sarnoff engineered the purchase of the Victor Talking Machine Company , the nation's largest manufacturer of records and phonographs , merging radio-phonograph production at Victor's large manufacturing facility in Camden, New Jersey . Sarnoff became president of RCA on January 3, 1930, succeeding General James Harbord . On May 30

10201-760: Was widely known as "The General". David Sarnoff was born to a Jewish family in Uzlyany , a small town in Minsk Governorate , Russian Empire (today part of Belarus ), the son of Abraham Sarnoff and Leah Privin. Abraham emigrated to the United States and raised funds to bring the family. Sarnoff spent much of his early childhood in a cheder (or yeshiva ) studying and memorizing the Torah . He emigrated with his mother and three brothers and one sister to New York City in 1900, where he helped support his family by selling newspapers before and after his classes at

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