Manovich - "What is New Media?"
Manovich describes how old media has given rise to new media in the article “What Is New Media?” Manovich discusses several 19th century inventions such as calculators that led to modern media, and later credits another step in the media revolution to the cinema productions of the 1890s. As he continues the developments that took place in media, Manovich states that 1936 was an important year because of the invention of the “Universal Turing Machine.” This machine could compute anything that a human could and it could also mimic other machines as well. Manovich goes on to talk about how the computer is the reason that media became new media. There are several principals that new media objects follow. The first is numerical representation, meaning that all new media objects have a digital numerical code and can be numerically programable. Modularity is the second of these three. Media elements like sound, shapes, and images are maintained separate, but all come together for the actual product. This allows for alterations on the separate elements to not affect the rest of the structure. Automation uses the coding and structure present in the first two principles and essentially removes the need for some of the human involvement. Manovich also talks heavily about the increased use of the internet, and even credits it to having an surplus of information which in turn creates the need for search systems. Variability is another principle that explains how new media can have an infinite number of different forms of the same object. Variability also demonstrates how social changes and technology changes parallel each other. The final principle of new media, transcoding, takes place when a structure follows patterns and trends. New media is constantly changing and ever-present in today’s society. Manovich lists several notions of both new and old media and continues to state how the computer is an interactive multimedia machine.
Anyone who has been affected in any way by new media can relate to Manovich’s article “What Is New Media?” Our society as a whole is highly dependent on computers for everyday activities, and each person takes part in some form of new media multiple times throughout a day. Whether we are checking email, tuning in to our favorite show, editing pictures on the computer, or communicating with cell phones, new media is constantly changing the way we carry out our daily activities. Even though technology changes daily, with Manovich’s explanations and definitions, it becomes possible to define “new media.”