It's a very subtle concept. I do a pretty poor job explaining it to friends all the time. I think of it as an extension of "to a person with a hammer, everythin

It's a very subtle concept. I do a pretty poor job explaining it to friends all the time. I think of it as an extension of "to a person with a hammer, everything is a nail". There's only so many ways to use a hammer. There's only so many ways to use smoke signals, or twitter or a picket sign or a sitcom to convey an idea. The main takeaway is that they are all tools, each with their specific use. Understanding Media by Marshall McLuhan [0] is where the phrase is first seen, but it's a dense book and tough to read at times. It's quite theoretical, kinda like he's developing an information theory of communication mediums. Amusing ourselves to death by Neil Postman[1] is more specific to written text and tv, but is a much easier read and very eye-opening. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Understanding_Media https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Understanding_Media [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amusing_Ourselves_to_Death https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amusing_Ourselves_to_Death