Bolter talks of remediation as new media keeping certain roots to its developed past. Remediation being "rivalry between the new media and the old" (Bolter, 2000 p.45) . Bolter suggests older mediums can be accessed through digitization on a computer screen but being transparent allowing the viewer to attempt to have the same experiences as they would with the original medium. Manovich argues that New Media is the digitization through numerical representation, modularity automation, variability and transcoding. If using Manovich's suggested principles of new media, Bolter couldn't argue his case for an original experience from an older media reprocessed on a new medium.
Having access to so many forms of media, from old to new, manifests into Hypermedia. An example would be through the use of new media technologies such as watching Television, Surfing the web and listening to music at the same time. Older mediums hympermediacy would be physical and representational through "stained glass, relief statuary, and inscriptions" (Bolter, 2000 p.34). Bolter also suggests we can see hypermedia within paintings much like a desktop of the computer. The example given is in Dutch "art of describing" being "absorbed and captured multiple media and multiple forms in oil. Much like the oil paintings, computers emphasis the idea of hypermedia, using multiple windows, and multiple recreations of images, pictures and paintings.
Taking from Debra Shaw's Technoculture, the idea that media creates ideologies through the development of technologies. Our hypermedia society we live in with the over crowded market of ideologies created by immediacy through the likes of musicians. Musicians such as Bruce Springsteen or Beyonce. Bruce Springsteen with his muscular but sensitive presence, and Beyonce with a strong feminine prowless. Like with the dutch oil paintings and technological advancements allowing corporations to go after ideologies "sought to satisfy this same desire" (Bolter, 2000 p.24). With digital technology it still uses the same immediacys although in a dffferent stance. Using the same connotations as we would use in everyday life, "Trash" or "Recycle Bin" for a digital files to be deleted, we put food and paper in to there respective trash cans or recycle bins.
Bibliography
Bolter, J.D., (2000). Remediation: Understanding New Media New Ed., MIT Press.
Shaw, D. (2008). Technoculture: The Key Concepts; Oxford Berg Press
Manovich, L. (2001). The Language of New Media. MIT Press.
Showing posts with label Manovich. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Manovich. Show all posts
Wednesday, 6 November 2013
Wednesday, 23 October 2013
Modernism and Post Modernism
Creeber defines old and new media, through two time periods, Modernism and Post Modernism. Post-modernism can partly be understood as "the inevitable by-product of a consumer society, where consumption and leisure now determine our experiences rather than work and production" (Creeber, 2009, p.15). The increase 'Participatory culture' creating virtual communities allows participation from individuals and corporations "to become ‘producers’ as well as ‘receivers’ of the media" (Creeber, 2009, p.19).
Creebers ideas of participatory culture coincide with Henry Jenkins' three key terms of "convergence, collective intelligence and participation" (Jenkins, 2006, p.47).
The participatory culture are able to then take a image from another, using digital devices such as cameras and computers to create a image or other mediums with there own take of an image. Using virtual communities such as Facebook and Tumblr along with video and image platforms such as YouTube and 4chan to create these texts. Although, this did not just happen with the invention of digital media or just within New Media. Marcel Duchamp, an artist who took images like the Mona Lisa, adding a moustache to the piece of art and anchored with some text. This under Lev Manovich's classification of New media would be a variability and also wouldn't not be because nothing was digitized but would suggest that the idea of New Media began with the age of mass production.
Like Manovich, who wants a new theory of authorship to help us to understand media, Creeber believes that there should be a "new theoretical framework which allows us to understand and appreciate both the positive and negative features of our current media age" (Creeber, 2009, p.21). With there being no set theoretical framework and no authorship to understand the concept of new media, there will be a growth in technology, to try and understand, more collective knowledge to try to comprehend what is and isn't new media and more shifts in cultural dynamics of media.
Bibliography
Creeber, G. (2009). DIGITAL THEORY: Theorizing New Media & Cubitt, D. (2009)
Manovich, L. (2001). The Language of New Media. MIT Press.
Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence Culture: where old and new media collide. revised version. NYU Press.
Creebers ideas of participatory culture coincide with Henry Jenkins' three key terms of "convergence, collective intelligence and participation" (Jenkins, 2006, p.47).
The participatory culture are able to then take a image from another, using digital devices such as cameras and computers to create a image or other mediums with there own take of an image. Using virtual communities such as Facebook and Tumblr along with video and image platforms such as YouTube and 4chan to create these texts. Although, this did not just happen with the invention of digital media or just within New Media. Marcel Duchamp, an artist who took images like the Mona Lisa, adding a moustache to the piece of art and anchored with some text. This under Lev Manovich's classification of New media would be a variability and also wouldn't not be because nothing was digitized but would suggest that the idea of New Media began with the age of mass production.
Like Manovich, who wants a new theory of authorship to help us to understand media, Creeber believes that there should be a "new theoretical framework which allows us to understand and appreciate both the positive and negative features of our current media age" (Creeber, 2009, p.21). With there being no set theoretical framework and no authorship to understand the concept of new media, there will be a growth in technology, to try and understand, more collective knowledge to try to comprehend what is and isn't new media and more shifts in cultural dynamics of media.
Bibliography
Creeber, G. (2009). DIGITAL THEORY: Theorizing New Media & Cubitt, D. (2009)
Manovich, L. (2001). The Language of New Media. MIT Press.
Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence Culture: where old and new media collide. revised version. NYU Press.
The cultural changes of New Media
The ideas of New Media were not simply created by new technologies alone but though cultural changes in society, changes such as Modernism. As Creeber notes, "Modernism is the umbrella term we give to the way that human society responded to the changes that took place during the industrial revolution", (Creeber, 2009, pg.11). A world transformed by ideas of a beneficial and progressive industrial society, diminishing previous societal structures such as a religious monopoly of dominance.
The faith of the masses now invested in technological advancement and material goods to help deal with the stresses of daily life rather than relying on spiritual guidance, "A triumph of consumerism, commercial culture"(Manovich, 2002, pg.31). The Fordism production line ethic resonated this change across all layers of society, the same product replicated cheaply, quickly and with little collective thought, as the "Modernists came to perceive industrialization as the enemy of free thought and individuality", (Creeber, 2009, pg.12). Manovich notes this practice in today's media production, where "modern media follows the factory logic", dividing a singular project into repetitive jobs such as an artist who only colours backgrounds for an animation, (Manovich, 2002, pg.51).
In Post-Modern society, focus changed from the consumption of material goods to that of information. Leading to the rise of "information technologies, the globalization of financial markets, the growth of the service and the white-collar", an information age, (Creeber, 2009, pg.15). The Frankfurt school feared the "ideological influence of the media on a gullible and powerless audience", the masses drooling over their mass produced, mind numbing, popular culture? (Creeber, 2009, pg.15). The elites who dismissed popular culture as a low brow mind control underestimated the complex relationship between the reader and the text. Audiences are not mere puppets of media but "active participants in the production of meaning", they can interpret the meaning of texts using their own cultural means (Creeber, 2009, pg.16).
Identifying how elements such as popular culture cannot be categorised as high or low brow, "as the 'real' and 'unreal', the 'authentic' and 'inauthentic'", as the meaning lies within the cultural view of the reader (Creeber, 2009, pg.17). This is identified in today's culture where the meaning and status of media is being blurred, using multimedia mediums such as YouTube. Where low brow mash-ups such as the "What does the wolf say?" become more significant than professional industry standard media. The masses now hold more power and influence over the media they consume, sharing, choosing, participating and driving New Media.
Bibliography
Creeber, G. Digital Theory: Theorizing New Media (Maidstone: OUP)
The faith of the masses now invested in technological advancement and material goods to help deal with the stresses of daily life rather than relying on spiritual guidance, "A triumph of consumerism, commercial culture"(Manovich, 2002, pg.31). The Fordism production line ethic resonated this change across all layers of society, the same product replicated cheaply, quickly and with little collective thought, as the "Modernists came to perceive industrialization as the enemy of free thought and individuality", (Creeber, 2009, pg.12). Manovich notes this practice in today's media production, where "modern media follows the factory logic", dividing a singular project into repetitive jobs such as an artist who only colours backgrounds for an animation, (Manovich, 2002, pg.51).
In Post-Modern society, focus changed from the consumption of material goods to that of information. Leading to the rise of "information technologies, the globalization of financial markets, the growth of the service and the white-collar", an information age, (Creeber, 2009, pg.15). The Frankfurt school feared the "ideological influence of the media on a gullible and powerless audience", the masses drooling over their mass produced, mind numbing, popular culture? (Creeber, 2009, pg.15). The elites who dismissed popular culture as a low brow mind control underestimated the complex relationship between the reader and the text. Audiences are not mere puppets of media but "active participants in the production of meaning", they can interpret the meaning of texts using their own cultural means (Creeber, 2009, pg.16).
Identifying how elements such as popular culture cannot be categorised as high or low brow, "as the 'real' and 'unreal', the 'authentic' and 'inauthentic'", as the meaning lies within the cultural view of the reader (Creeber, 2009, pg.17). This is identified in today's culture where the meaning and status of media is being blurred, using multimedia mediums such as YouTube. Where low brow mash-ups such as the "What does the wolf say?" become more significant than professional industry standard media. The masses now hold more power and influence over the media they consume, sharing, choosing, participating and driving New Media.
Bibliography
Creeber, G. Digital Theory: Theorizing New Media (Maidstone: OUP)
Wednesday, 16 October 2013
Computerization
Computing and Media Technologies begin as two separate entities
converging together overtime through, film, photography and binary
information. These technologies are developing through experimentation
and the format in which the cultural collective forms for the needs
of mass.
New media can be broken down into two distinct layers, Cultural Layer and Computer layer. The understanding of the cultural layer is to be known as the input information (user generated), whereas the computer layer is generated from the input information through automation and variations of the same. This transition from the user generated information to the media form and the transcoding for computer or digital information.
During the text of 'Language of New Media' as Manovich speaks of transcoding he states that "computerization turns media into computer data" (Manovich, 2002, p.63). The computer storing and re distributing the media that it has been given. "In new media lingo, to “transcode” something is to translate it into another form." (Manovich, 2002 p.64)
Transcoding doesn't happen without another 4 principles of new media such as numerical representation, modulation, automation, variability. Each of which cross one path or another. Computerization requires numerical or coded information, binary or otherwise, Modulation through mixed mediums being digitized, automation, the process of creating the binary and coding into a visual or piece of spectral information. Variability the changing of the medium e.g. photograph into a video format. Although suggesting that all within the cultural layer has to be of human origin Manovich states a database "originally a computer technology to organize and access data, is becoming a new cultural form of its own" (Manovich, 2002 p.64), can be consequence of the principle transcoding.
Manovich suggests that the "computer layer and media/culture layer influence each other" (Manovich, 2002 p.64) rather than have computer layer overpowering the cultural layer, they converge to develop each other further. With the development of computer and digital technology, new media continues to grow along side rather than being the technology. Is it suggestible that transcoding is changing the development of software and the skills required?
Bibliography
Manovich, L., The Language of New Media (Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 2001)
New media can be broken down into two distinct layers, Cultural Layer and Computer layer. The understanding of the cultural layer is to be known as the input information (user generated), whereas the computer layer is generated from the input information through automation and variations of the same. This transition from the user generated information to the media form and the transcoding for computer or digital information.
During the text of 'Language of New Media' as Manovich speaks of transcoding he states that "computerization turns media into computer data" (Manovich, 2002, p.63). The computer storing and re distributing the media that it has been given. "In new media lingo, to “transcode” something is to translate it into another form." (Manovich, 2002 p.64)
Transcoding doesn't happen without another 4 principles of new media such as numerical representation, modulation, automation, variability. Each of which cross one path or another. Computerization requires numerical or coded information, binary or otherwise, Modulation through mixed mediums being digitized, automation, the process of creating the binary and coding into a visual or piece of spectral information. Variability the changing of the medium e.g. photograph into a video format. Although suggesting that all within the cultural layer has to be of human origin Manovich states a database "originally a computer technology to organize and access data, is becoming a new cultural form of its own" (Manovich, 2002 p.64), can be consequence of the principle transcoding.
Manovich suggests that the "computer layer and media/culture layer influence each other" (Manovich, 2002 p.64) rather than have computer layer overpowering the cultural layer, they converge to develop each other further. With the development of computer and digital technology, new media continues to grow along side rather than being the technology. Is it suggestible that transcoding is changing the development of software and the skills required?
Bibliography
Manovich, L., The Language of New Media (Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 2001)
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)
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)
New Media and the Computerization of Culture
In his book 'The Language of New Media', Lev Manovich (2001, p.43) states that:“(…) today we are in the middle of a new media revolution—the shift of all of our culture to computer-mediated forms of production, distribution and communication.”. This new media revolution can be seen as the junction of the history of computing and the history of media technologies. According to Manovich, five main principles can be identified in order to distinguish New Media from old media: numerical representation, modularity, automation, variability and transcoding.
Although Manovich acknowledges that the principles of automation, variability and transcoding are predominantly dependent on the basic principles of numerical representation and modularity, he also acknowledges that transcoding is “(…) the most substantial consequence of media’s computerization.” (Manovich, 2001, p.63). In technological terms, transcoding can be defined as the transformation from one format to another. However, when we define transcoding in more general terms, it can be understood as the computerization of culture.
In this respect, we have to think about New Media as comprising two layers. On the one hand, there is the cultural layer which reflects the perspective of the human mind. On the other hand, there is the computer layer which represents digital data or numeric codes. Given that computers are used to create and distribute New Media, it is anticipated that the computer layer will influence the cultural layer. In this way, the representation of culture by the computer affects culture itself. An example of this would be the evolution from old web communities to social networks, which have a significant social impact on our daily lives. Moreover, this influence can be seen in both directions, resulting in the merger of computer and culture. It is a merger of how human beings see the world and how the computer represents it. Nevertheless, the question remains to what extent this effect is substantially different from the impact of more traditional media.
Bibliography
Manovich, L. (2001). The Language of New Media. Cambridge, Mass., London: MIT Press.
Although Manovich acknowledges that the principles of automation, variability and transcoding are predominantly dependent on the basic principles of numerical representation and modularity, he also acknowledges that transcoding is “(…) the most substantial consequence of media’s computerization.” (Manovich, 2001, p.63). In technological terms, transcoding can be defined as the transformation from one format to another. However, when we define transcoding in more general terms, it can be understood as the computerization of culture.
In this respect, we have to think about New Media as comprising two layers. On the one hand, there is the cultural layer which reflects the perspective of the human mind. On the other hand, there is the computer layer which represents digital data or numeric codes. Given that computers are used to create and distribute New Media, it is anticipated that the computer layer will influence the cultural layer. In this way, the representation of culture by the computer affects culture itself. An example of this would be the evolution from old web communities to social networks, which have a significant social impact on our daily lives. Moreover, this influence can be seen in both directions, resulting in the merger of computer and culture. It is a merger of how human beings see the world and how the computer represents it. Nevertheless, the question remains to what extent this effect is substantially different from the impact of more traditional media.
Bibliography
Manovich, L. (2001). The Language of New Media. Cambridge, Mass., London: MIT Press.
New Media
Media and technology have been growing and ever changing along side one another for many, many decades. They have also influenced how one and another has been developed and precised over these many, many years. Whenever technology is enhanced it can help lead to new and varied ways that we can produce and also consume media in our lives. Then in turn as we produce and consume more and more media we then try to invent new technologies to help us do so in easier, better ways and also even new ways. So this back and forth between media and technology has helped they both grow over the year.
Furthermore due to this continuous back and forth between technology and media that causes them to enhance the other further they help to then create new media. This also helps to create new ways in which we enjoy and consume our media. Also as it has helped to create new media much easier and effects that we add to various media texts. On such computer programmes as Photoshop makes it as simple as clicking a single button to create the desired effect who wish to add to your media text. So it then removes much of the involvement we human put into our media texts. "Thus human intentionally can be removed from the creative process, at least in part." (Manovich, p.53). Technology and media have developed so far together that they now come in hand in hand with one another.
Moreover new media, thanks to the interweaving of technology and media over the decades, has lead to use to use our technology to consume our media texts. We can use our technology to develop a device that we can use to ingest several forms of media at once. This is down to media and technology becoming one and the same over their long history together.
Bibliography:
Manovich, L (2002) What is New Media and Principles of New Media From The Language of New Media
Furthermore due to this continuous back and forth between technology and media that causes them to enhance the other further they help to then create new media. This also helps to create new ways in which we enjoy and consume our media. Also as it has helped to create new media much easier and effects that we add to various media texts. On such computer programmes as Photoshop makes it as simple as clicking a single button to create the desired effect who wish to add to your media text. So it then removes much of the involvement we human put into our media texts. "Thus human intentionally can be removed from the creative process, at least in part." (Manovich, p.53). Technology and media have developed so far together that they now come in hand in hand with one another.
Moreover new media, thanks to the interweaving of technology and media over the decades, has lead to use to use our technology to consume our media texts. We can use our technology to develop a device that we can use to ingest several forms of media at once. This is down to media and technology becoming one and the same over their long history together.
Bibliography:
Manovich, L (2002) What is New Media and Principles of New Media From The Language of New Media
Critical response to Manovich’s principles of New Media ‘Numerical Representation’ and ‘Modularity'
Worth noticing in Manovich’s chapter on principles of New media are the sections
‘Numerical Representation’ and ‘Modularity’. This principles are correctly
stated as being important elements of New Media. In the first section, the
author states that the process of digitization involves making real life data,
which is continuous, into discrete data. These discrete units, however, are not
the units of meaning. The case is rather that they first have to form a
interpretable concept as a whole by relying on each other and therefore, they
do not affect the viewer separately (Manovich, 2002, pp. 49-50). With this
comes the principle of modularity, where the author explains that all these
separate elements, together combined into the large-scale object, have their
own identity and are independent of one another (Manovich, 2002, pp. 51-52).
This might inhere some sort of contradiction. Although all of these units might seem independent, it could be more useful to say that they are related to each other to create a meaningful superstructure. Taking out one of the items would break the logical whole, and the meaning would change. As a consequence, this means that deleting ‘atoms’ of the new media object would interrupt the cultural and the overall meaning of the message provided by this specific new media, which then too has a significant consequence on the way the message would have influenced the society in which it is created. The influence of the medium happens in the extension of a specific meaning, which is created by the specific parts all working together to be meaningful in some sort of specific way. Take for example a photograph, consisting of pixels as being the units. With just a few pixels, taking out one of the ‘atoms’ or manipulating them in some sort of way does change the way people will interpret the photograph. One may be able to separate or interchange the units, but it will impact the meaning of the message.
Bibliography
Manovich, L. (2002). The language of New Media. MIT Press.
This might inhere some sort of contradiction. Although all of these units might seem independent, it could be more useful to say that they are related to each other to create a meaningful superstructure. Taking out one of the items would break the logical whole, and the meaning would change. As a consequence, this means that deleting ‘atoms’ of the new media object would interrupt the cultural and the overall meaning of the message provided by this specific new media, which then too has a significant consequence on the way the message would have influenced the society in which it is created. The influence of the medium happens in the extension of a specific meaning, which is created by the specific parts all working together to be meaningful in some sort of specific way. Take for example a photograph, consisting of pixels as being the units. With just a few pixels, taking out one of the ‘atoms’ or manipulating them in some sort of way does change the way people will interpret the photograph. One may be able to separate or interchange the units, but it will impact the meaning of the message.
Bibliography
Manovich, L. (2002). The language of New Media. MIT Press.
What Makes New Media Different
"A new media object is not something fixed once and for all but can exist in different, potentially infinite, versions" (Manovich, 2002, pg.56)
When copies are made of old media, they are all identical, however this is not the case with new media where many different versions of a piece of media can exist.
As Manovich states (Manovich, 2002, pg.56), variability can't exist without modularity, allowing each element of new media to exist independently. This allows the various individual parts to be compiled in multiple ways to create new things each time with each new media each time with each new combination, each combination can be considered new variations of the same pieces of media.
Variations of media can include several edits of one video or photo. These variations are all from the same source file that has been edited, making them essentially the same despite their minor differences.
As New Media exists as data, it can be transferred and viewed from almost any electronic device and the media we see can be customised for things like browser compatibility or the location found in the users IP address can be used to provide location specific information.
When media made the transition from analogue to digital, the possibility for variability increased. It can be argued that analogue media isn't dead, not yet anyway, ie. groups of camera enthusiasts still use old cameras and develop their photographs in a dark room using the chemicals that digital cameras left behind. It's increasingly uncommon to find analogue media today as digital is more convenient.
Variations can also be created automatically by computers, ie. an image can be matched to the scale of the viewing platform being used by the viewer. This links the idea of automation, where computers can create media with very little human interaction, to that of variation.
All of the aspects mentioned here are important in determining what New Media is, rather than just one of them.
Bibliography
Manovich, L (2002) What is New Media and Principles of New Media from the Language of New Media (Cambridge, Mass :London MIT Press)
When copies are made of old media, they are all identical, however this is not the case with new media where many different versions of a piece of media can exist.
As Manovich states (Manovich, 2002, pg.56), variability can't exist without modularity, allowing each element of new media to exist independently. This allows the various individual parts to be compiled in multiple ways to create new things each time with each new media each time with each new combination, each combination can be considered new variations of the same pieces of media.
Variations of media can include several edits of one video or photo. These variations are all from the same source file that has been edited, making them essentially the same despite their minor differences.
As New Media exists as data, it can be transferred and viewed from almost any electronic device and the media we see can be customised for things like browser compatibility or the location found in the users IP address can be used to provide location specific information.
When media made the transition from analogue to digital, the possibility for variability increased. It can be argued that analogue media isn't dead, not yet anyway, ie. groups of camera enthusiasts still use old cameras and develop their photographs in a dark room using the chemicals that digital cameras left behind. It's increasingly uncommon to find analogue media today as digital is more convenient.
Variations can also be created automatically by computers, ie. an image can be matched to the scale of the viewing platform being used by the viewer. This links the idea of automation, where computers can create media with very little human interaction, to that of variation.
All of the aspects mentioned here are important in determining what New Media is, rather than just one of them.
Bibliography
Manovich, L (2002) What is New Media and Principles of New Media from the Language of New Media (Cambridge, Mass :London MIT Press)
Automated media, rise of the machines?
Lev Manovich has identified how factors, such as computerisation, have changed medias function and social significance while new media takes its place as the staple of the digital age. Manovich "reduces all principles of new media to five: numerical representation, modularity, automation, variability and cultural transcoding", identifying the key factors which differentiate old and new media (Manovich, 2002, pg.44). All new media is now made up of "digital code" and so "becomes programmable", allowing computers to store, produce and distribute our media (Manovich, 2002, pg.49). Before technology was just a tool for media, just a calculator which aided us but with technological advancements it now shares in the creative production process.
Manovich notes how "human intentionally can be removed from the creative process, at least in part", software such as Photoshop, creates, edits and filters our content for us at the click of a button, taking most human interaction out of new media (Manovich, 2002, pg.53). Are we being limited by computers? By relying on automated technology, we take a back seat in creating media compared to the manual processes of old media. We live in a society "now concerned as much with accessing and re-using existing media as with creating new one" (Manovich, 2002, pg.55). If everyone is re-using existing media, this may stunt the creative possibility's of new media, leaving us with ideas that will never be imagined.
Artificial intelligence becomes ever more real, as computerised controls such as "software agents" filters our media for what it deems relevant, using our information and profiles to adapt new media around us (Manovich, 2002, pg.55). Creating a Big Brother mentality, as we are being monitored, controlled and restricted by computer technology. Although as seen in video games, this control is merely an illusion by "AI engines" which "use a variety of approaches to simulate human intelligence", restricting our own choices to fit within the rules of its own digital world (Manovich, 2002, pg.54). Though digitization has also given the user more control over time and media, such as through "random access"(Manovich, 2002, pg.67). By rejecting the "human-centered" order of old media such as the fixed order of videotapes, it allows time to be "managed, analysed and manipulated more easily"(Manovich, 2002, pg.67).
Bibliography
Manovich, L. (2002) The Language Of New Media, (Cambridge, Mass, :London MIT Press)
Manovich notes how "human intentionally can be removed from the creative process, at least in part", software such as Photoshop, creates, edits and filters our content for us at the click of a button, taking most human interaction out of new media (Manovich, 2002, pg.53). Are we being limited by computers? By relying on automated technology, we take a back seat in creating media compared to the manual processes of old media. We live in a society "now concerned as much with accessing and re-using existing media as with creating new one" (Manovich, 2002, pg.55). If everyone is re-using existing media, this may stunt the creative possibility's of new media, leaving us with ideas that will never be imagined.
Artificial intelligence becomes ever more real, as computerised controls such as "software agents" filters our media for what it deems relevant, using our information and profiles to adapt new media around us (Manovich, 2002, pg.55). Creating a Big Brother mentality, as we are being monitored, controlled and restricted by computer technology. Although as seen in video games, this control is merely an illusion by "AI engines" which "use a variety of approaches to simulate human intelligence", restricting our own choices to fit within the rules of its own digital world (Manovich, 2002, pg.54). Though digitization has also given the user more control over time and media, such as through "random access"(Manovich, 2002, pg.67). By rejecting the "human-centered" order of old media such as the fixed order of videotapes, it allows time to be "managed, analysed and manipulated more easily"(Manovich, 2002, pg.67).
Bibliography
Manovich, L. (2002) The Language Of New Media, (Cambridge, Mass, :London MIT Press)
Going Down The River in a Cardboard Box
"In contrast to analog media where each successive copy loses quality, digitally encoded media can be copied endlessly without degradation" (Manovich, 2001, 69)
Manovich begins by looking at William J. Mitchell's 'The Reconfigured Eye' (1982), In which Mitchell talks about how analog media "cannot be transmitted or copied without degradation" (Mitchell, 1982: 6) At the time of writing, Mitchell was living in a world where digital media was a break through in technology and it was looking like it was about to completely revolutionise the way media artefacts where accessed, developed and broadcast. It looked like nothing could destroy digital media and that anything which was digitally accessed was safe from complete destruction.
Mitchell goes on to refer to his view of digital media and how he believes it is completely lossless, "a digital image that is a thousand generations away from the original is indistinguishable in quality from any one of its progenitors".
He believes that digital media is invincible through generations of being passed down. For example. An old photograph will stain of the years with age and use, but if a digital image is stored on a hard drive for the same amount of time, it will be in the same condition and quality as when it was taken.
However, Manovich, speaking nearly twenty years after Mitchell, and being in the middle of the digital revolution, knows how digital media can be just as short-termed as analog media. "A single digital image consists of millions of pixels. All this data requires considerable storage" (Manovich, 2001: 70)
Even another decade later and we still cannot say that we have confidence in how computers store our media files. With technologies like DropBox, GoogleDrive and SkyDrive, surely we are just bypassing the problem instead of eliminating the problem which we built.
Bibliography
Mitchell, W.J., The Reconfigured Eye (Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 1982)
Manovich, L., The Language of New Media (Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 2001)
Manovich begins by looking at William J. Mitchell's 'The Reconfigured Eye' (1982), In which Mitchell talks about how analog media "cannot be transmitted or copied without degradation" (Mitchell, 1982: 6) At the time of writing, Mitchell was living in a world where digital media was a break through in technology and it was looking like it was about to completely revolutionise the way media artefacts where accessed, developed and broadcast. It looked like nothing could destroy digital media and that anything which was digitally accessed was safe from complete destruction.
Mitchell goes on to refer to his view of digital media and how he believes it is completely lossless, "a digital image that is a thousand generations away from the original is indistinguishable in quality from any one of its progenitors".
He believes that digital media is invincible through generations of being passed down. For example. An old photograph will stain of the years with age and use, but if a digital image is stored on a hard drive for the same amount of time, it will be in the same condition and quality as when it was taken.
However, Manovich, speaking nearly twenty years after Mitchell, and being in the middle of the digital revolution, knows how digital media can be just as short-termed as analog media. "A single digital image consists of millions of pixels. All this data requires considerable storage" (Manovich, 2001: 70)
Even another decade later and we still cannot say that we have confidence in how computers store our media files. With technologies like DropBox, GoogleDrive and SkyDrive, surely we are just bypassing the problem instead of eliminating the problem which we built.
Bibliography
Mitchell, W.J., The Reconfigured Eye (Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 1982)
Manovich, L., The Language of New Media (Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 2001)
New Media - Modularity & Variability
For many people, the term "New Media" is used as an umbrella term to denote the technological progress which has occurred in society over the last few decades. For media theorist Lev Manovich, however, this popular consensus is "too limiting" (2001, pp. 19), so he decided to outline what exactly is meant by new media by determining five main principles to serve as a kind of check-list to which all new media forms should conform. These characteristics include "numerical representation, modularity, automation, variability and transcoding" (2001, pp. 27-48), and for me two of these characteristics, modularity and variability, seem to be more closely linked than the others, and it is the relationship between these two that I will now try to explain.
As Manovich writes, modularity is the term used to describe the "fractal structure of new media" (2001, pp. 30). What he means by this is that a new media object consists of separate, independent elements, which are in turn made up of even smaller, independent elements and so on, right down to the smallest "atoms", for example the World Wide Web. As Manovich goes on to describe, it "consists of numerous Web pages, each in turn consisting of separate media elements (which can be) accessed on their own" (2001, pp. 31). We can therefore safely say that, because of the example given and the fact it coheres to the principle of modularity, the World Wide Web can be described as a new media object.
Bearing this in mind, we can understand what is meant when we are introduced to the term variability. As described by Manovich "a new media object is not something fixed, but something that can exist in potentially infinite versions" (2001, pp. 38). This potential for multiple different versions of a media object existing is down to the fact that, because media elements are independent and therefore maintain their own identities, they can be assembled into numerous sequences, allowing for such variability in multiplicity to occur.
Manovich, L. (2001) The Language of New Media (Cambridge, Mass. : London MIT Press)
Variability in New Media
Lev Manovich (2002, p. 44) presents five principles that describe New Media. As with all descriptions of abstract concepts, this is just one way of looking at it. This presentation can definitely help people understand what New Media means, but so could a different description with for instance more or less categories. However, the five principles of Manovich give a clear description of the whole complexity of New Media.
His first three principles: numerical representation, modularity and automation are without doubt important requisites. However they might cover more than New Media alone and are therefore not its most important characteristics. cultural transcoding is definitely a key concept without which there would be no such thing as New Media, but it could be classified as a consequence of it. Therefore, it could be argued that the aspect that is really responsible for New Media is variability.
Variability means that media are not the same for everyone but change according to the user, making the usage of the 'same' media a different experience to everybody (Manovich, 2002, p.56). The reason variability could be viewed as the main aspect of New Media is that it does not just focus on how the content is made, but on how the user interacts with it. This interaction is what makes New Media new. A key feature in this is that variability enables to view media on a continuum of how New it is. An e-book is on a low level. You can change type size and fonts, but it remains similar to the traditional book. Further on the scale there might be DVDs. Their menu uses branching and they have extras, but it still is not as New as for instance Facebook, were you can personalize your profile and use it for many different purposes, enabling a much wider range of gratifications for its users.
Bibliography
Manovich, L. (2002). The Language of New Media. MIT Press.
Bibliography
Manovich, L. (2002). The Language of New Media. MIT Press.
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