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Among students at universities and colleges of higher education, as well as in the written press, one can ascertain a growing interest in media theory. There is a conveyor belt of books about new media, but what seems to be missing is knowledge and understanding of the classical media theories of Ernst Cassirer, Susanne Langer, Harold Innis, Marshall McLuhan, Claude Shannon, Gregory Bateson, Vil m Flusser, Friedrich Kittler, and many others. In Understanding Media Theory, the ideas of these theoreticians and philosophers are explained and applied in a clear and accessible way--not by discussing the writers one by one, but by using real examples and analyzing them on the basis of concepts developed in media theory. Consequently, this volume is accessible to a broad public, though it is primarily intended for students and teachers of media studies. The main thrust of media theory is the analysis of how a society is altered by the technical characteristics of the various media it encompasses. Media theory therefore examines popular culture as well as the arts, journalism as well as philosophy, scientific as well as general insights, mass media as well as individualized media. Media theory claims to offer an explanation for all historic and social phenomena.