Intelligence: Medium
Ask not what Medium is
People ask me: what is Medium? Apart from saying that it comes from the Latin word medius, meaning middle, I refer them to Alexis Madrigal’s telling piece What is Medium? in The Atlantic. Until now.
Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with Madrigal’s article. It is in fact an excellent review of the (presumed) strategy as well as a friend or foe discussion. According to Madrigal, “Medium is chaotically, arrhythmically produced by a combination of top-notch editors, paid writers, PR flacks, startup bros, and hacks”. Apparently, it is a “magazine killer”.
He might be right. According to The New York Times, Medium is a “simple publishing platform” with “rich visual design” for “smart writers and editors”. In the recently leaked New York Times report Innovation, The Gray Lady highlights Medium as one of their main competitors.
Described as an open publishing platform that allows anyone to write and distribute content, the Times is obviously concerned by developments in the digital landscape: “In the digital world, though, we are trailing badly behind our competitors. Many publishers have decided to become platforms, as well. Huffington Post and Medium have experienced huge growth in part because they have become a platform for opinion pieces and guest essays.” That makes you wonder.
Then I realized that the question itself was flawed.
Ask not what Medium is. Ask what Medium can be.
Medium can be the storage and transmission channels or tools used to store and deliver information or data, and may refer to any means of information communication. Medium can be any material substance which can propagate waves or energy. For example, the transmission medium for sounds is usually air. Medium can be material through which electromagnetic waves propagate. The permittivity and permeability of the medium define how electromagnetic waves propagate in it. Medium can also be any language or other tools used to educate, train, or instruct. It may or may not be the official language of the country or territory.
Medium can be a nonlinear dynamical system which has the capacity to propagate a wave of some description, and which cannot support the passing of another wave until a certain amount of time has passed (known as the refractory time). Medium can be a quantum system that allows amplification of power (gain) of waves passing through (usually by stimulated emissions). Medium can be a liquid or gel designed to support the growth of microorganisms or cells, or small plants like the moss Physcomitrella patens. Medium can even be the material which fills the solar system, and through which all the larger solar system bodies, such as planets, asteroids, and comets, move. Speaking of space, Medium can be the matter and energy content that exists between the stars within a galaxy.
But Medium can also be a gradation of cooked meat. Pink and firm. Like the way she liked it done, in AC/DC’s Touch Too Much. Or the way she makes your eggs, in Tom Waits’ Invitation to the Blues. Medium can be a material that allows fluid to pass through it, such as sand. Medium can also be a material that plays a role in a manufacturing processes. It is the soap solution to washing. The plasma to steel melting. And the superheated steam to steam drying.
Medium can be a material used by an artist or designer to create a work. It is cement, glass and metal to the architect. Wood and adhesives to the carpenter. Chalk, pencil and marker to the painter. Medium can be an one hour long two-act dramatic opera with words and music by Gian Carlo Menotti, and Medium can be a 1951 film version of the very same opera. But Medium can also be Singapore’s first full-length English language film, released in local cinemas in late 1991 and produced by Singaporean Errol Pang. Even though we try to forget, Medium can even be an American television drama series that premiered on NBC on January 3, 2005, ending its run on that network on June 1, 2009. Speaking of which, Medium can be any person who claims to serve as an intermediary between the physical world and the spiritual world.
Medium can be a record label created in 1993 primarily to publish the music of Steve Jansen, Richard Barbieri, and Mick Karn, ex-members of the band Japan and Rain Tree Crow. Medium can be the size of the cardboard box just right for a person of his build, as in Velvet Underground’s The Gift. Perhaps just the right size to contain all those records. Medium can be the student-run weekly entertainment and comedy newspaper at Rutgers University with the purpose of promoting the message of free speech.
Medium can be a digital design and technology company that were in business between 2002 and 2012, with an emphasis on user experience and product development. Apparently, it wasn’t boring. Medium can be beast bowling, sometimes known as ‘medium pace bowling,’ in the sport of cricket. Medium can also be Adolph Eichmann’s eyes, hair, wight, height and intelligence in this lovely poem by Leonard Cohen.
All There is to Know About Adolph Eichmann
Leonard Cohen
EYES:…………………………………….….…..Medium
HAIR:…………………………………….….…..Medium
WEIGHT:…………………………….….…….Medium
HEIGHT:………………………….…….……..Medium
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES:…..None
NUMBER OF FINGERS:……………….Ten
NUMBER OF TOES:……………..….…..Ten
INTELLIGENCE:………………………….Medium
What did you expect?
Talons?
Oversize incisors?
Green saliva?
Madness?
So, what did you expect — madness? No, it is Medium. A “system of writing” in which people contribute thoughts and experiences. Everyone’s stories and ideas. Some people say that Medium is just another blog publishing platform. I prefer to think of it as the material which fills the solar system.
