…many of the effects of the telephone had been anticipated by the general speedup of information that centered in the telegraph. The effects of “wireless” were anticipated by earlier technologies of wire and cable. Road traffic had been steadily accelerating before the advent of the railroad. A general environmental speedup preceded the development of the airways. The new effects through new uses of any innovation are realized only after it becomes obsolescent through fresh innovation.
“Symposium” (1973), p 10
Year: 1973
Chapter:
Causality
Compiled by William Kuhns
© 2026, The Estate of Marshall McLuhan
© 2026, The Estate of Marshall McLuhan