BLOG POST: MY NEW MEDIA CLASS - SO FAR

New media has been able to come about because of the large advances in technology we have had in society. New media has made a huge impact on corporations as well as individuals. One of the main advances of technology that has affected new media is digitalization. With digital cameras, and digital television sets, we are now able to much more readily convert information we understand, to information a computer can understand. In the past, you would have to scan a picture to get it into a computer. With many pictures, you would have to scan many times. However, now all we need is a simple plug to connect a digital camera to a computer and the picture files will load much more quickly than it would have taken to scan. With the social networking technology of new media, we can easily post our digital pictures online and share it with the world and get feedback.

I believe that new media was built on and by the internet, so the internet is very important to media. The forms of new media we have talked about, such as blogs, wikis, social networking websites, and open source software, all stem from and thrive on the internet. Blogs are a very simple way to express yourself; you do not need any special programming knowledge. All you need is a computer, and an internet connection to share your thoughts with other people. Wikis are the same way; without the internet to provide a place for people to work together and collaborate on projects, wikis would not exist. Today, even our phones are connected to the internet, as people with blackberries get extremely frustrated if they cannot update their twitter accounts because there is no internet service where they are.

New media has been replacing old media in that people old technologies are becoming outdated or inconvenient. For example, home telephones are not used as often anymore because cellular phones can go with you wherever you go. Also, cellular phones are able to connect to the internet and have access to a wealth of information. For example, if you needed the answer to a question, you could ask your cellular phone, and through “speech recognition software,” your phone could use a program to “interpret your verbal request, and then [pump] the answer to your phone’s screen in the form of a Web link to the answer” (Pogue, 2008). Basically, in terms of phones, new media can do everything old media can, and more.

However, in some instances, new media has helped to enhance old media. For example, in journalism, there are still people who prefer reading the newspaper to find out the news. However, due to the growing popularity of blogs, journalists have gone to reporting through blogging websites. Blogs often give off the impression of genuine thought, so people are more attracted to reading them. Also, software developers create programs, but these programs often do not satisfy everyone. That is why software has been enhanced with open source. People are able to see the code of the software and customize it to their liking. In the television industry, channels are allowing free episodes to be viewed online in order to compliment their television shows. For example, “NBC says 7 our of 10 viewers were spurred to watch some shows on telveision only after sampling them first online” (Holson, 2008).

Holson, Laura M. "Who Needs a TV? I’m Watching on a Laptop." The New York Times 3 Dec. 2008.

Pogue, David. "Yahoo’s Answer to Speech Recognition for Your Cellphone." The New York Times 10 July 2008.