open-ended

Reverting back to a few class discussions ago, I particularly liked the idea of the hypertext format that the woman had to write her stories online and take ideas from her readers and to change them according to what they want to hear and how they want a story to end. Reading Rushkoff's "The Information Arm's Race" made me think about this more in depth, and how different types of mediums should be viewed and utilized. He explicitly says that any form of movie or book, no matter how absorbed we get or captivating it is, it is not participatory and therefore not classified as communication. Although we may sometimes think that someone's else's ideas being expressed to us, may seem as such, "it is merely a unique and personalized experience essentially dead data." The internet and other types of social media are described as a threat to programmers and other advertisers who are influencing us to do things by telling us what we need. Rather than being fed information, we are able to interact with one another, and be participants, which is a more realistic and better defined form of communication. Constant change and move from the status quo is something we should continue to seek. This is a fundamental idea in the field of communications, and not surprising that it was greatly brought about and enforced by Mcluhan himself, who welcomed inquisition and constant questioning.