Marshall McLuhan

Marshall McLuhan
"The medium is the message"

Marshall McLuhan's statement, "The medium is the message" has had a variety of interpretations. After reading an article by Mark Federman - Chief strategist- McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology, I think I have a better understanding of what McLuhan meant. If I still don't understand his statement clearly, that's okay with me.
In this photo of McLuhan there is a telephone on the back wall. The telephone reminds me of something I've experienced several times, beginning many years ago.
I walked into Zion's Bank in Sun Valley, Idaho in 1993. I stood in line behind a man in shorts and sandals. The bank was pretty quiet that day. I was glad that I had gotten there during a slow time of day. After a few minutes, it was my turn to get my banking done with the teller.  I approached the friendly-looking older woman at the counter. She asked me how she could help me and just as I opened my mouth to answer her, the ringing of a telephone behind the woman pulled her attention away from me as she mumbled, "um just a minute" and picked up the phone and answered, "Zion's Bank, Sun Valley, how can I help you?"  I stood at the desk for several minutes as the teller helped the telephone-patron. I wondered as I watched her why it was that a person who didn't have the compulsion to leave wherever they were got priority treatment over me...I had gotten dressed, brushed my teeth, combed my hair, and used up my personal time and fuel to drive over to the bank to do my banking in person. The person on the telephone hadn't done that. Now it could be that the person on the phone was at their job and couldn't get away, but still, why was the person on the telephone more important than a real live flesh and blood person right in front of the teller?
I have experienced that same thing in countless businesses over the years. Is a person who calls on the phone or sends a text message, more important than the people who are breathing right in front of us?
In this situation, McLuhan's statement "the medium is the message," to me, has nothing to do with what the person on the telephone wants at that moment, or the text message sender's purpose either. In this age of wanting to connect with others, sometimes, with as many people as we can through email, Facebook, Instagram, text-messages, telephone calls, etc. we tend to overlook and take for granted the people that are right in front of us and that often should be the most important people.
The message here is that the invisible individual is more important than the visible one that we can see, touch and smell.
I have many friends, and I've experienced this myself, that complain that their significant other is always so busy on their cell phone playing games, Facebooking, texting, etc that they don't seem to even talk much anymore. When did devices and what they contain become more important than people? Devices have sure added an amazing amount of convenience to our lives, but along with that convenience there have come many negatives. We may not notice them or the messages our devices have sent until we shut them off, put them down and notice the people around us again. People are pretty cool too you know.