Some artifacts that are related to media are confused with media, but are not themselves media. Some recent DMP list postings, while interesting, fail this test. But it would be as valid to hold that a protractor mediates angles between points in a shape and the geometer, or structural knowledge between Pythagoras and the geometer. Our society often confuses the reference for the referent, and the messenger for the message. We tend to look at the speakerphone in a conference call.
Property law is better at protecting a box of blank tapes than the plagiarism of a song.
Our messages, which preoccupy us, are increasingly able to transcend modes of communication, each characterized by different media. We necronauts chronicle the passing of media into disuse.