What is New Media

In chapter one of his book The Language of New Media, Lev Manovich talks about new media as more than the use of a computer to distribute media (19).  To prove his point, he talks about the beginning of photographs, cinematography, and computing machines.  He goes on to explain how each of these things become similar in make up and start using similar systems to store data.  Then they divide—visual media uses film for storage while computing systems use a binary system (using discarded movie film) for storage.  Manovich goes on to show how the medias came together again when it all went digital.  He then talks about how new media follows five principles: numerical representation, modularity, automation, variability, and transcoding. 

Numerical Representation

All new media objects have digital code or numerical representations.  In other words, a new media object is described using a mathematical function and it is programmable.  While many new media objects are created on the computer, others have to be converted to a digital format or digitized.  Digitization involves sampling and quantization.  Sampling is like taking a look at an image or word.  The more frequently the image is looked at, the better the image appears on the screen or the better resolution it has.  Sampling turns the continuous data from the media being digitized into what is called discrete data or data occurring in distinct units (28).  A sample that is quantified has a numerical value given to it.  This process gives the new media a means to be broken down into smaller parts the this page can broken down into paragraphs, sentences, words and then letters. 

Modularity

New media objects have the same structure throughout the media.  In other words, the elements of the media are represented as discrete samples and then assembled into larger objects while maintaining their identities.  These larger objects are then combined into even larger ones while maintaining their identities.  And the cycle continues.  It’s like the sample above.  Letters are combined into words, words into sentences and into paragraphs.   The letter does not lose it’s identity while neither does the word and so on.  Because each object has retained its identity, it can be changed at any time without having to change everything.

Automation

Automation is when the coding and modular structure of a media object allows a program or media to automatically create an object or document upon accessing it similar to an Excel file.  When it is opened up, it already has gridlines, cell names and basic functions ready to start inputting information.  It also has command buttons at the top of the screen for easy formatting.  In many cases this automation is like an artificial intelligence.  To some degree, it can keep track of what you are doing, like in a computer game.

Variability

A new media object can exist in different versions all at the same time.  While old media is exactly the same when it is copied, new media typically has many different versions when copied and these versions are often automatically created by a computer.  An example of this is when a Word document is opened and then saved again in WordPerfect.  The document looks slightly different in the other word processor.  If the different programs don’t have the same font available, the computer will usually select one that is as similar as possible.  Modularity makes variability possible because the media elements are stored digitally and can be put together in different sequences while controlled by a program.  Also, because each element is broken into a discrete sample, media can be created and customized right now.  This blog was created for you when you brought it up on the web.

Transcoding

New media exists in human culture and in digital files.  New media can be expected to influence traditional cultural media because it is created, stored, archived, and distributed by computer. Computer software and hardware is always changing for new uses and tasks, which is having an effect on the level of how people interact with the computers.  Therefore, culture and computers are affecting each other.  Thus, to transcode is to translate into another format like from computer to cultural and visa versa.  A digital camera is a good example of this.  Film cameras are still better at creating a picture in many ways, but they are old media.  Digital cameras were developed to work with computers and they have gotten better and better each year so that the pictures are as clear as film pictures.  On the other hand, it is getting more difficult to find film and even good cameras that use film because more people are using digital cameras so that they can work with the pictures on their computers.

With each of these principles, the one that is the most powerful in what Manovich calls a culture undergoing computerization is Numerical Representation.  This is the most important because it is the foundation for the other four.  Without the ability to digitize media, we would not be able to work with it on the computer.  We would not be able to create media on the computer either.  All of the programing and digitizing rely on numbers to work in the binary code.  After the digitizing, we are able to create modalities and make them function automatically.  We can then change them and expect them to change in different venues.  All this because the elements of the media were all given their own number.