Ivan Kalmar (2005) suggests, 'if McLuhan's name no longer rings as it once did, it is because history has paid his ideas the compliment of making them commonplace' (227).1. Introduction: Problematizing our Relations with Media Technologies12 Semiotics, the study of words and language-sign and signifier-is mostly outside the scope of this book. However, it is quite important, so there is a place for it within the framework/instrument I develop.1. Introduction: Problematizing our Relations with Media Technologies imply autonomy and separation. Kenneth Gergen (2009: xxvii) describes this issue quite well:The very idea of individual persons is a byproduct of relational process. But how can I describe this process without using a language that inherently divides the world into bounded entities? To be more specific, by relying on common conventions of writing, I will invariably rely on nouns and pronouns, both of which designate bounded or identifiable units. The very phrase, 'I rely on you….' already defines me as separate from you.[…] Try as I may to create a sense of process that precedes the construction of entities, the conventions of language resist. They virtually insist that separate entities exist prior to relationship.