CONTENTS PARTI 1 Introduction 3 1 The Medium is the Message 7 2 Media Hot and Cold 24 3 Reversal of the Overheated Medium 36 4 The Gadget Lover: Narcissus as Narcosis 45 5 Hybrid Energy: Les Liaisons Dangereuses 53 6 Media as Translators 62 7 Challenge and Collapse: the Nemesis of Creativity 68 PART II 81 8 The Spoken Word: Flower of Evil? 83 9 The Written Word: an Eye for an Ear 88 10 Roads and Paper Routes 97 11 Number: Profile ofthe Crowd 115 12 Clothing: Our Extended Skin 129 13 Housing: New Look and New Outlook 133