Chapter 13 is a discussion about the World Wide Web the prevalence of the use of ‘cool’ writing. Media theorist Marshall McLuhan introduced the ideas of ‘cool’ and ‘hot’ media and their associated writings.
McLuhan describes ‘Hot’ media as a high definition form of communication in which, because of its self defining aspects, requires little participation by the target audience. Movies and television are in this category because the viewer has little need to define mentally what is being viewed. Traditional books and magazines are also viewed as ‘hot’ because the reader’s participation need only look at the words in order to decipher a meaning.
‘Cool’ media, on the other hand is defined as a form of writing or viewing that is heavily dependent upon audience participation…low definition in other words. I believe that, other than the Internet of course, a great example of this would be the live stage production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The forms of media that Rice provides as examples are telephones, comics and cartoons. All these types of media require the audience to fill in the gaps with their own internal commentaries to find truth in a particular meaning.
Rice uses Hewlett Packard’s idea of CoolTown, an online depiction of futuristic networking, to show the eventual evolution of ‘cool’ communication in our world. Everything, including clothing will be subject to the vast stores of information the world has to offer. Rice contends that we are well on the way to this eventual reality especially in the realm of media. His example is of the incessant tie-ins of other forms in all communications. Meaning: Coca-cola advertisements on children’s toys, t-shirts and clothing lines based off of popular reality TV shows (West Coast Choppers) and blanket companies with inter-department promotions, i.e. AOL Time Warner and its subsidiaries of CNN, Time Magazine and Sports Illustrated. The eventual ends of this process with the digital age is, of course, complete networking…this is the principle function of CoolWorld.
Chapter 14 is entitled Cyberculture; this is in reference to the impact that technology has on the writing process, the media in general, as well as how we, the reader, interpret the literature of cyber communication. More than anything, Rice is saying that cyberculture is, if nothing else, a complete reliance on technology in all aspects of culture and society.
McLuhan’s theories of ‘cool’ media apply to the World Wide Web in a very explicit manner. Cyberspace is the epitome of an electronic literary collage. Mark Derry claims that that the vast collections of information available on the web with the inherent networking and linking of hypertexts create a total participatory experience by the audience. The cool thing about this collage of information is its almost intentional ambiguity. With (in many instances) anonymous authors unintentionally linking to other writers linking to other subjects and objects, sometimes within one site, the meaning becomes unclear and vague. These holes must be interpreted and the gaps filled by the readers own mind to create a discernible pattern that makes sense. The viewer (audience) must make an effort to participate in and create meaning out of the collage.
The main point of chapter 14 that Rice tries to make clear is that Cyberculture is a collage of (intentional and unintentional) ambiguity in that requires the audience to decode the meaning of a text through reconstruction and personal participation.
