When the phrase "new media" is said I instantly imagine the definition to be any advancement in media. From the printing press to film to computers. For Manovich the definition of new media is anything digital. In his journal titled The Language of New Media he states that new media is only digital. After I made it through the first chapter, and the extremely bad typing errors, I came out on the other end disagreeing with his definition of new media.
Manovich gave principles that define media as new. These included numerical representation and variability. What I did not understand was why does the term new media need to be defined by rules such as numerical representation. It seems that any advancement in media is technically new. An example used in the chapter was the printing press. During it's time it was a new advancement.
A better term to use would be "digital media" instead of "new media". Most of Manovich's argument centered around the fact that new media has a code and is digital. The word new seems to mean an advancement of something, however most of the principles listed described digital sources. While digital is an advancement, the chapter seems to say that new strictly means digital.
A great difference that clearly states how new media differs from older media is the variability principle. New media can be changed many times from the original by a computer or outside force. Older media sources could only create copies of the original and had to be done by an actual person. Manovich argues that variability allows for interaction, however older media included interaction. Photos needed to be developed by hand and film required the time and commitment to be cut and pasted by a skilled projectionist.
One term that I did agree with Manovich on was "hypermedia". It appears that the internet today uses many hyperlinks that create a network of information. Almost everything can be linked back to the original source. A modern example that would not exists without hypermedia is the website Pinterest. Users pin articles, photos, or anything else that they find onto this site. It strives on hypermedia.
Overall, I wish that Manovich would have addressed why new media is strictly defined as digital information. I also wish that he would have stated why coining the phrase "digital media" is not relevant and instead the phrase "new media" is used. He does state that he tries to avoid using the words digital and interactive because they are too broad. Digital seems to be a more narrow term than new when describing a type of media that revolves around computers and code.
Manovich gave principles that define media as new. These included numerical representation and variability. What I did not understand was why does the term new media need to be defined by rules such as numerical representation. It seems that any advancement in media is technically new. An example used in the chapter was the printing press. During it's time it was a new advancement.
A better term to use would be "digital media" instead of "new media". Most of Manovich's argument centered around the fact that new media has a code and is digital. The word new seems to mean an advancement of something, however most of the principles listed described digital sources. While digital is an advancement, the chapter seems to say that new strictly means digital.
A great difference that clearly states how new media differs from older media is the variability principle. New media can be changed many times from the original by a computer or outside force. Older media sources could only create copies of the original and had to be done by an actual person. Manovich argues that variability allows for interaction, however older media included interaction. Photos needed to be developed by hand and film required the time and commitment to be cut and pasted by a skilled projectionist.
One term that I did agree with Manovich on was "hypermedia". It appears that the internet today uses many hyperlinks that create a network of information. Almost everything can be linked back to the original source. A modern example that would not exists without hypermedia is the website Pinterest. Users pin articles, photos, or anything else that they find onto this site. It strives on hypermedia.
Overall, I wish that Manovich would have addressed why new media is strictly defined as digital information. I also wish that he would have stated why coining the phrase "digital media" is not relevant and instead the phrase "new media" is used. He does state that he tries to avoid using the words digital and interactive because they are too broad. Digital seems to be a more narrow term than new when describing a type of media that revolves around computers and code.
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