This is a summary of Marshall McLuhan's work applied to understanding the past, present and future. It covers - the medium is the message, the medium as content, hot and cool media, our change from a pre-literate to literate to post literate society, characteristics of the post literate society, and the four laws of media. It will close with a discussion of the wave of the future. The benefits of understanding this approach are that you: • Will understand why our present environment is the way that it is • Gain a greater understanding of the interrelationships of past, present and future. • Will understand the influence of media on our perception, thinking and actions • Will gain insight on the long term future. Paul Schumann is a practicing futurist with expertise in creativity and innovation. He has lived long enough to see forecasts fail and succeed, including some of his own. He had a thirty year career with IBM in three very different arenas - as a technologist and technology manager in semiconductor technology, as an internal entrepreneur creating the first independent business unit within IBM, and as a cultural change agent developing a more creative and innovative culture. Since retiring from IBM he has 19 years of experience in consulting as a business futurist with programs in creativity and innovation. He is the founding president of the Central Texas Chapter of the World Future Society (http://centexwfs.ning.com). And he is the founder of the Insights – Intelligence - Innovation Collaborative (http://incollaboration.ning.com) . He is on the advisory boards of the Marketing Research Association and the Austin Center for Nonprofit and community Based Organizations. More information about Paul can be found on his web site (http://www.glocalvantage.com).