Describe New Media

The sort of technologies that make up what we call new media include digital technologies like digital television and digital video recorders. Also other forms of new media include the internet, video gaming, social media networks like Twitter and Facebook, websites that hosts online blogs, wikis, and newspapers and blu-ray and DVD disc technology. 

We distinguish these new forms of media from the old ones because they involve a sense of going digital in terms of instantaneous information and the plethora more readily available choices that new media has to offer. In the "Greatest Change in the History of Media" by Vin Crosbie, Mr. Crosbie discusses this in terms of people are readily choosing new media because the digital composition gives people more access to choices like news, entertainment and information. With this, the change in media like internet on cell phones and social media commentary makes information travel much more faster than reading a book or newspaper to get that information and news now comes out by media outlets online faster than the newspaper can do.

With the newspaper and analog television being old media, these forms are limiting and can only go so far. The newspaper is a final product of fact checking by editors, assistants, and all stories are pre-approved by the management to be sent out the next day and the next day. With online blogs and the internet with networks like social media, news can be changed and updated by the minute with actual fact checking being primary sources at the scene of the event with video footage and in person interviews. And this footage or interview can be posted online within minutes and spread the news very quickly. With the newspaper, they would have to print a retraction or do a follow up story the next day about the same news from the day before. With the internet, it is instantaneous and constantly updated. Another example is the excerpt of the Computerworld magazine from 1985 that can be seen to showcase the old media format of magazines and newspapers that were not interactive and had no way to be changed when finally printed, unless one had to go through retraction, even so that would cost money. With the internet of new media, information can be changed without even costing anything and it is within the minute.

For analog television, it was all about  turning the television set's buttons in order to pick up sound, visuals, with respect to receiving signals to do so. This old media transitioned to include digital television technologies because one is able to immediately receive sound and picture at the same time from a set top box called cable. Not to mention, there is the inclusion of digital recording in which, one can record shows with the touch of a button and it is stored in their set top box to be viewed at anytime. For old media, one would probably have to use a VCR with a recording tape to capture what recorded show they wanted. If we even go back further to a time without VCRs, there would be not recording function for televisions at all!

All in all, the Old Media to New Media transition of technology is really dynamic and the changes are not hard to understand as it makes life easier and the availability of information more accessible, not to mention it is being respectful of people's preferences as well, making new media have a personal connection with anyone.


References:

1. Crosbie, V. (2010, June 8). The Greatest Change in the History of Media. Retrieved from http://www.digitaldeliverance.com/2010/06/08/the-greatest-change-in-the-history-of-media/
2. (1985, May 13). Computerworld. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=WKyJOEl_vlsC&printsec=frontcover&lr=&rview=1#v=onepage&q&f=false