Eventually he became famous for this slogan, as well as the phrase “global village” which he coined as a description of the new world of electronic broadcasting. It is a world in which we participate—with the emotionally charged, irrational responses of primitive villagers—in the turmoil of Rwanda and Bosnia as if it were in our living rooms. He also became noted for his confusing labels of “hot” and “cool” as applied to different media. Hot was high definition and low involvement—like the experience of scanning a street map. Cool was low definition and high involvement—like the experience of listening for a sound in a house late at night. Among media, print was definitely hot. Television was supremely cool.
