I Am Transcoding

Is New media really as new as we know it is, or does transcoding change the definition? Manovich identifies the commercial effect on New media stating that "since on one level New media is an Old media which has been digitized" (Manovich, 2002, p65). We can see throughout Manovich's train of thought that digitization controls "mass media and data processing [through] the complimentary technologies of a modern mass society" (Manovich, 2002, p46). We are transcoding and we don't want it to be hidden inside mass data programming, as it helps us work with convergence to create one media object from several formats.

As a new form of digital community, we become the transcoders. In doing so we identify with the convergence of New media data and its advantage over Old media data. "While from one point of view computerized media still displays structural organization which makes sense to its human user" (Manovich, 2002, p63). At this moment we can characterize the human user within the "cultural layer" (ibid) found in the recuse of the users mind. Cultural layers fall inside the mental identity of Old media such as photography and radio, through their use of storytelling in a physical format. At this stage we begin to see a character transformation from the users mental state (the cultural layer) to the "computer layer" (ibid) which performs the mass data programming and processing found in the basics of transcoding.

Transcoding isn't about separation, but about a collective nature in which both states of mind; be that human or computer, they can come together to form and intelligence of New media. Both these layers  combine the Old media such as photography with the New media. In doing so we store and relive that side media. With a culture nature and a computer intellect, the digitization of media is created to the format of how we become the the converged Old media.

Bibliography:
Manovich, L (2002) What is New Media and Principles of New Media from the Language of New Media (Cambridge, Mass :London MIT Press)