"The Medium is the Message"

Marshall McLuhan is considered by many to be the first father and leading prophet of the electronic age. He was known for his understanding of technology and how it relates to society and culture. In his book Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man McLuhan introduces the phrase "The Medium is the Message". McLuhan meant this phrase to mean that the information that is inside is not as important as the medium itself.

If the work of the city is the remaking or translating of man into a more suitable form than his nomadic ancestors achieved, then might not our current translation of our entire lives into the spiritual form of information seem to make of the entire globe, and of the human family, a single consciousness? (Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man p.61)

I found the paragraph above to be rather interesting, he talks about the globe as a single consciousness which could arguably be called the internet today. A blending of everyone together, sharing information and interacting with one another.