Marshall McLuhan was a Canadian philosopher who hit on an idea and that idea has influenced a lot of people including us here at Slots Play Casinos. Mr. McLuhan’s groundbreaking idea I is encapsulated in the phrase, “the medium is the message”.
There is a lot to digest in that statement and here we will talk about McLuhan’s insight as it relates to casino gaming in general and to online casino gaming specifically.
What is a Medium?
In McLuhan’s terms, everything in its own way is a medium. When a child “graduates” to a regular bed from his or her crib, the bed is a medium that delivers a very profound message to the kid, his parents, and everyone else: he or she is not a little kid anymore.
On the one hand, it’s just a bed but it packs a huge emotional and psychological punch!
A Casino is a Message
When there were very few casinos and all of them were land-based, the casino delivered several messages: gambling is not just allowed here…it is encouraged here; gambling can be exciting; gambling can be glamorous; travelling to a casino can be a good reason to travel.
Rather than take the family for a ride on a Sunday, many players travelled to a casino for a long weekend.
Playing games at a casino can be seen as an existential good even though players all know that the house has an edge in every game. The medium, which is the casino, delivers the message that some people just want to give their hard-earned money away!
Online Casinos Deliver a Different Message
Even though the house also has the edge at online casinos, the return to player rate in many games is higher at an online casino than at many land-based casinos.
The message here is a combination of travelling to a casino is not worth the money or the hassle; going to a casino for a few days is a poor way to spend one’s time; online gamers can play every day if they want to so no one has to play for hours at a time.
Every New Medium Delivers Four Unique Messages
The first is to make the old medium obsolete. Now, online casinos have not made land-based casinos obsolete. But players have a great deal of incentive to stay home to play rather than travel.
Some new mediums do make the old ones obsolete. The desktop computer made typewriters not only obsolete but collector’s items. Auto-correct made knowing how to spell obsolete. Cell phones made landlines obsolete. Supermarkets made neighborhood grocery stores obsolete.
The list of new mediums and the obsolescence of the old mediums is so long! And each new medium has its unique message.
A Successful New Medium Enhances their Use
This aspect of McLuhan’s thought may not be so true when it comes to fast food. Has fast food enhanced the dining out experience? Maybe in terms of convenience, it has.
Cell phones have certainly enhanced communication. Even small kids have cell phones so they can call mom or dad if they need them.
Online casino gaming certainly enhanced gamers’ casino experience. We know all of the reasons why online casinos have an advantage over land-based casinos so we will simply list them without comment:
- Comfort.
- Convenience.
- Bonuses and other promotions.
- More games.
- Higher return-to-player rates.
- Instant Play which gives gamers the freedom to roam the internet of casinos.
- No travel costs.
- No hassles.
- No inebriated players bothering you.
- Blogs.
A Successful New Medium Reverses the Older Medium
Online casinos reversed to idea of casino gaming for many gamers. One area that we talk about is that land-based casinos encourage gambling with free alcohol, no windows, and no clocks. Online casinos encourage gaming with all of the benefits that playing games gives to gamers.
Sometimes a new medium will reverse an old medium and then be reversed itself by a newer medium imposed on it. The first cell phones were monstrous things. They were heavy. They were expensive. But they began the process of reversing the concept of “telephone time”. This was the need to access a landline after a long flight during which a businessperson had no communication with the home office.
As cell phones got smaller, more people were able to afford them. The technology of conversing through this newfangled medium had to keep pace with the demand. Then smartphones were developed and the cellular medium experienced its own reversal. The universal ownership of smartphones has made the answering machine obsolete.
The massive proliferation of apps has made memory almost obsolete as so much information is stored on the phone.
And, of course, the internet, well….has made so many things that the post-war generation knew obsolete.
A New Medium Retrieves Aspects of an Older Medium
This is probably the hardest of Mr. McLuhan’s principles to understand. In terms of online versus land-based casinos, online casinos have retrieved the idea of time well spent; of playing casino games just for the fun of it; of getting the most out of short gaming sessions; and, possibly most of all, of developing and cultivating hobbies.
Online Casinos are Truly the Leading Edge of a New Way of Thinking about Casinos
Casinos are in themselves a medium of communication. Online casinos communicate the value of playing games for fun. It reminds us that playing games is good in itself. M. Scott Peck in his great book, “The Road Less Travelled” said that simply watching kids reminds us about play since kids for the most part are engaged in play. Even when a kid falls and cries, he or she gets over it and goes back to playing.
Online casinos are so dedicated to play for its own sake that they offer unlimited free play. You can play online casino games without placing a bet.
Slots Play Casinos Embodies the Idea of Play
We have the word ‘play’ in our name. We understand the value of play. We try to communicate that sense to our readers. We have reviewed and recommended some 30+ online casinos.
We also publish gaming guides and a large section of articles that inform and advise for the gaming benefit of online casino gamers.
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