1 ABCT2103 TOPIC 9 NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES AND THEIR IMPACTS

1 ABCT2103 TOPIC 9 NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES AND THEIR IMPACTS.

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

1. Identify the impact of new media technology in various aspects of usage;

2. Analyse the benefits of new media technology to the government and public; and

3. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of new media technology.

INTRODUCTION

New media technology is used for many purposes. Governments use it to disseminate information on national policies, teachers and students use it for educational purposes, corporate companies for business purposes, NGOs for support groups, and famous persons for publicity. This technology has changed the form of communication from print to electronic and interactive. In this era, technology has become our tool for survival. In the new media environment, the public has the ability to actively engage with the media by commenting on blogs, sending interesting newspaper articles and YouTube videos to friends and promoting activism through social networks. The spread and use of new media technologies have created an entirely new interactive environment for human communication on many levels and in many ways. This new technology has affected everyone. In this topic, we will discuss the impact of new media technology in every aspect of our life: economy, politics, social, education, communication, and others. From this topic you will have a better understanding on the benefits of this technology and its implications in the information age.

ACTIVITY 9.1

New technologies have transformed the world of media. Newspapers can be written and edited from a distance. TV programmes can be recorded and watched later at selected times. Radio can be listened to through the Internet and individual persons may reproduce their images beyond the traditional photo albums. How do those changes or transformations affect you as a user?

9.1 ECONOMICS

The world economy has experienced lots of changes in terms of technological innovations, managerial styles, form of work and economic organisations. Generally, it has undergone four long waves as shown in Table 9.1.

Table 9.1: Key technological and economic innovations.

	1780s-1840s	1840s-1890s	1890s-1940s	1940s-1980s
Key innovations	Power loom, water wheel	Steamship, railway	Electricity, automobile	Transistor, computer
Key industries	Cotton, iron textiles	Steel, ships, machine tools	Electrical, motor vehicles, chemicals	Electronic, consumer goods, goods, aerospace
Industrial organisation	Small factories	Large-scale industry	Multidivisional corporation	Mix of giant factories and small enterprises
Workplace organisation	Division of labour within the work process	Division of labour within enterprise	Scientific management	Semi-automated production
Institutional developments	Industrial company	Joint-stock company	Cartels, industrial combines	Multinational company

ACTIVITY 9.2

Based on Table 9.1, every period has its own characteristics. What about media and communication technologies? Discuss and identify the major media and communication technologies in every period.

Innovation and technological change are commonly considered as among the most important drivers of economic growth. Now, in this modern economy, ICT plays a major role. Flow of information and communication has become more important than the flow of physical products. In developed countries, it is called service and knowledge economy whereby information exchange and communication are seen as predominant economic activities. ICT networks are used as channels to exchange goods and services. For Hall and Paschal (Cited in Flew 2004), ICT provide the basis for a fifth long wave where the growth of Internet technology has led to the new economy in the 21st century. The concept of new economy arose in the context of the economic boom in the USA during the 1990s.

9.1.1 New Economy

The term “new economy” conjures different meanings to different people. A broad definition can simply mean the “dotcom” and cutting edge high technology companies with new technology and new systems impacting the whole economic landscape. It may also be defined as temporarily increasing economic growth and that it launches a wave of innovations that makes the economy grow faster and more efficient and initiates the creation of new products. There is a claim that this economy has caused a permanent rise in labour productivity and economic growth without high unemployment and high inflation (vanDjik, 2006).

ACTIVITY 9.3

There are various definitions on “new economy”. Try to find other definitions from other scholars for this concept. From those definitions that you have found, define “new economy” in your own words.

The popular meaning of new economy always refers to the information economy, to the high-tech economy, to the technology revolution or to the manyfaceted impact of explosive growth of the World Wide Web (Jensen, 2006). For Castells, the new economy based on ICTs has three main features:

- Informational ă The capacity in generating knowledge and processing information determine the productivity and competitiveness of all kinds of economic units.

- Global ă The operation of financial markets, international trade of goods and services, sciences and technology, the activities of multinational firms and communication media.

- Networked ă It is based upon information networks such as the Internet, including networked enterprises becoming the dominant form of economic organisation. New economy is said to arise from the intersection between globalisation of financial markets, the growing significance of knowledge to economic activity and the importance of collaboration and social capital development in a networked environment. It is driven by waves of technology·personal computers, telecommunications, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and alternative energy. Therefore, the new economy generally shows two broad trends:

- Globalisation of business - the spreading of capitalism around the world.

x Revolution in information technology - involving the digitalisation of all information and creating new companies and new industries. The two broad trends, globalisation and revolution in information technology are undermining the old order, forcing business to restructure. In the global markets, everyone wants to take advantage of the rapid technological change. This is because technologies in general, have a major impact on companies’ transaction costs. Companies’ search costs have been reduced in a whole range of industries as the Internet for example, has made it easier to identify suppliers, partners, customers or products.

9.1.2 New Media Technology and Businesses

The rapid development of new media technologies has affected trade and business management methods. Nowadays, many online marketing activities, has witnessed the growth of sales of various products. This is all due to the emergence of electronic business (e-business) and electronic commerce (ecommerce).

Figure 9.1: Symbols of Online Marketing

E-business may be defined as the application of information and communication technologies in support of all the activities of business. Commerce constitutes the exchange of products and services between businesses, groups and individuals and can be seen as one of the essential activities of any business. Electronic commerce focuses on the use of ICT to enable the external activities and relationships of the business with individuals, groups and other businesses.

E-commerce applications commenced in the early 1970s with the onset of new innovations such as Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). However, this application is limited to large business organisations and financial institutions. The emergence of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) has expanded the application of financial transactions to the manufacturing, retail, services, and so on.

Generally, e-commerce emphasises the generation and exploitation of new business opportunities and it improves business performance through a wide range of transactions. This will deliver results more effectively and improve economic efficiency in terms of low cost and fast interaction. Factors such as customer interaction impeller, the knowledge economy, the consolidation of digital technology as well as pressure to reduce costs and at the same time remain competitive, have made many companies interested in the effectiveness offered by e-commerce. Now the Internet technology is not only seen as a channel for obtaining information, but it is a new platform for marketing or sale of products and services.

ACTIVITY 9.4

Through e-commerce, many online or virtual stores have developed. And online shopping is one of the popular activities among Internet users nowadays. Have you been involved in this kind of shopping? What do you think about shopping via the Internet? Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of online shopping.

The definition of e-commerce by Inter-Agency Task Force on Electronic Commerce (IATFEC) is as follows:

Electronic commerce (e-commerce) is business transactions conducted over public and private computer networks. It is based on the electronic processing and transmission of data, text, sound and video. E-commerce includes transactions within a global information economy such as electronic trading of goods and services, online delivery of digital content, electronic fund transfers, electronic share trading, electronic bill of lading, commercial auctions, collaborative design and engineering, online sourcing, public procurement, direct consumer marketing and after-sales services. It involves the application of multimedia technologies in the automation and re-design of transactions and workflows, aimed at increasing business competition.

E-commerce actually has a variety of definitions. Kalakota and Whinston (1997 )define e-commerce from the following perspectives:

Table 9.2: Perspective of electronic commerce

Communication	The delivery of information, products or services or payment over the telephone lines, computer networks, or other electronic means.
Business process	Application of technology to automate business transactions and workflow.
Services	The equipment used to fulfil the desire of firms, consumers, and management to cut service costs while improving quality of goods and increasing speed of service delivery.
Online operations	Provision of the capability by buying and selling products, services and information over the Internet and through online services.

Generally, e-commerce can be divided into two main categories:

● Business-to-business (B2B)

B2B involves transactions between two or more companies. A company will be selling goods or products to the enterprise via the web. It usually involves Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). The interaction between business to business to smooth out the network form of organisation involving small firms rely on a company partner to supply components and distribution of products to meet customer needs more effectively.

● Business-to-consumer (B2C)

B2C can be considered similar to the retail business because it involves transactions between a seller and end user. However, through e-commerce, the purchaser or end user can make a reservation or purchase directly from the computer without having to go anywhere. They can choose from sources as far away physically. This shows that distance between the buyer and seller is no longer a problem because the dealer will form a virtual store or storefront that offers information, goods, and services to consumers.

Figure 9.2: The changes in distribution system.

This new technology changes the distribution system. In the traditional system, the relationship between product producers and consumers is mediated through the supply chain such as wholesalers, distributors, and retailers. With the convergence of technologies and e-commerce, disintermediation will happen, where intermediaries will disappear and a direct relationship between producers and consumers will exist. Besides that, there will be re-intermediation where the intermediary function remains but is conducted by organisations whose operations are driven by e-commerce.

Figure 9.3: E-commerce statistics in Malaysia. Source: malaysiacrunch.blogspot.com

9.2     POLITICS

New media has become a popular channel for political communication activities. Since 2008, the Internet and its applications have played important roles in politics, especially to express philosophies, viewpoints and convictions, either on the part of the ruling government or the alternative party. Now, we can see almost all political parties, such as PAS, UMNO, DAP, and PKR having their own websites These websites have been used as a medium or platform to distribute any information related to their activities and opinions on some issues to members, supporters, and others.

The Internet is one medium that is especially needed in election campaigns. In addition, this new tool is needed by the critics and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to influence public opinion.

With new media technology, election campaigns have become more creative especially to attract members of the younger generation who spend more time in cyberspace. Online engagement can also lead to enormous influence. We have seen the evidence in Barack Obama's presidential bid in 2008, and the British general election.

In recent years, many politicians have used social media such as blogs and social networking sites in an effort to bridge or close any gaps with the people. Many Malaysian ministers, including our Prime Minister, have Facebook accounts since it is now the most popular medium. Through the PM’s 1Malaysia website, all government policies have been posted on Facebook to increase people’s understanding.

ACTIVITY 9.5

With the emergence of many political blogs, including by ordinary individuals, we have a variety of information and views from various angles. What is your opinion about this phenomenon? Do you think that democracy and freedom of speech can be more successful through this new media?

9.3       COMMUNICATION

We have established the fact that human communication is always dynamic and keeps undergoing change. We are also aware that there are various levels of communication, beginning from the intrapersonal to interpersonal, to organisational level and to the mass or public level. Sociologists, such as Daniel Bell (1973) and Manuel Castells (1991& 1996), talk about the three main types of publicly circulated information in contemporary societies and cultures, such as:

(i) Oral tradition of communication, namely face to face interactions and story telling.

(ii) Recorded tradition of communication, such as everyday information that are stored, transposed and exchanged by various means, for example, via writing tools which began since c. 5000 BCE; motion picture camera in 1889 and films and etc.

(iii) Introduction of networked and online traditions such as exchanges between participants, whether in the forms of text, numbers, images, or talking movies.

(iv) In the forms of electronic bits and bytes that move around societies in forms of digital documents sent through a computer network, for example, internet hosts, telecommunication lines, databases, online directories, e-books and list serves.

Bell (1962) in The End of Ideology categorised history of societies into these three following phases:

(i) Pre-industrial;

(ii) Industrial; and

(iii) Post-industrial.

Bell also pointed out that the three phases were powered by: 
(i) Steam; 
(ii) Electricity; and 
(iii) Information (computers). 
We have all come to accept that the history of computers in human communication and new media technologies is a history of computers, Internet and networks. We had to redefine history with the earliest advent of the new media in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, such as the telegraph, telephone, radio, photography, moving pictures, computers and the ‘World Wide Web’ . Human communication takes place alongside the presence of RAM, hard disk capacity and TCP/IP.

Early computers were large and bulky and had emerged more as a military tool rather than the shape that it took later on. In the 1960s, McLuhan began to write about the emerging electronic media and its impact on human communication and culture. His writings showed that he had anticipated contemporary society to again initiate a major breakaway from the past, leaving behind the era of printindustrial-urban-mechanical era into the new postmodern society. This new environment may be seen as replacing forms of oral tradition of learning and education as well as other modern activities. It is therefore very obvious that societies at the global level shifted into the emergent world of media concentration and saturation, mass computerisation, and all kinds of new discourses.

Media has indeed become the central unit in contemporary societies. New media, mainly the social media, chat rooms, blogs, Twitter, etc.- have created new forms of human communication. We can communicate instantly with anyone on the globe at any time at all. This ease in communication was not possible a couple of decades ago! It is then mind-boggling if we are to imagine what forms would eventually take shape in another couple of decades.

The face of technology keeps changing at a much faster rate than human communication. For example, it is obvious that we are involved in more computer-mediated communication (CMC) than face-to-face interaction. An obvious picture is the increasing use of texting via mobile and cell phones. At times, texting takes place while engaging in a face-to-face communication. And it is again obvious that new media technologies have blurred the lines between interpersonal and group communication and media communication.

ACTIVITY 9.6

Manuel Castells in The Rise of the Network Society looks at how “in the second half of the 1990s, a new electronic communication system started to be formed out of the merger of globalised, customised mass media and computer mediated communication”. What is your opinion on the statement? Give suitable examples to your explanation.

9.3.1 Formation of virtual and online personalities Licklider and Taylor (1968) first envisioned the beginnings of computer mediated communication among dispersed communities:

“They will be communities not of common location, but of common interest. In such sector, the total number of users will be large enough to support extensive general-purpose information processing and storage facilities. Life will be happier for the on-line individual because the people with whom one interacts most strongly will be selected more by commonality of interests….

As pointed out by Nicholas Negroponte in 1995, we are all going “digital” and “being digital” is a major coup in modern lifestyles, living amongst the IT specialists, technology savvy friends. All of a sudden, we can work from anywhere, create files and access them from anywhere, insert graphics and hyperlinks and store them from everywhere and access them from all cybercafés. As a matter of fact, the way we work and live has totally changed. We certainly cannot imagine working or operating businesses without virtual communication. International businesses and networking are almost all conducted by telephone, e-mail, teleconferencing and stored online or on discs.

Therefore, the idea of a virtual organisation is one that is totally different from the traditional notion of organisational or institutional workplaces. From a real physical environment, the virtual organisations are operated with lesser costs, higher efficiency, increased productivity and crosses borders and spaces and time zones.

It is clear that technology has really changed our lives and our ways in the work environment. Thus, it is not surprising that the impact of such technology would be most experienced at the workplace. IBM, for instance, has devised a programme that can be installed in the office building where everyone in the building may be contacted and consulted even by associates outside one’s own section through a detailed job description of all employees through devices including Instant Messenger (IM) chat or Voice over Internet Protocol including through video. As a matter of fact, it was just in the 1980s that employees would be seen using the IBM Selectric computer and the staple touch-tone telephones. In conclusion, technology has changed us completely, whether at home or at the workplace. Its main impact in terms of human communication and behaviour may be seen as follows:

- Almost all sectors of the population are able to utilise a mobile phone; even operators at the low-end of the work-flow would be able to operate mobile phones and indulge in texting, emailing and immerse in the social media such as Facebook and many others.

- All visual and graphic arts are utilised to enhance meaningful communication exchanges on routine matters as well as high technology operations and projects that are then distributed at national, regional and global marketplaces.

- At the end of the day, technology is an enabler, assisting human beings to communicate better. EDUCATIONAL One of the main issues raised by CMC is the fact that it will introduce vast opportunities in education and learning. People purchase computers mainly to use them for educational purposes. Computers, the Internet and the new media are perceived as tools for learning and it is all about being in sync with the new buzzwords such as the knowledge society, e-learning and life-long education, both remote and traditional. The increasing use of ICTs in the school system as well as the blossoming of educational software are strong reminders of how the new media is so strongly associated with education at the traditional institutions as well as at home. New media technologies are constantly being touted as creating additional space for further education, e-learning, thus stretching the frontier further in the contexts of knowledge economy and society at home. Governments as well as the private sector are increasingly aware of the fact that the computer and the educational content industry are not only driving the development in the education sector, but are also drivers of knowledge stocks. David Hakken (1999) refers to it as the “banking” concept of learning. Hakken 9.4

considers knowledge as having economic value and may be expanded for profit in the knowledge society and in cyberspace. We can detect this development in the interest taken by big corporations such as Microsoft, Intel, publishers of e-books and edutainment giants such as Disney toward developing knowledge and edutainment packages. News, education and entertainment are again merging in form, blurring the differentiation lines.

ACTIVITY 9.7

What do you think of the role of social media such as blog, weblog, and virtual worlds, and social networking sites as tools for education? How can we use it for this purpose? Discuss.

9.4.1 Prospect in higher education In the 1980s, the government began to realise the increasing importance of tertiary education in the formation of the information and knowledge society in Malaysia. It began to realise the advantages of transforming Malaysia into a regional education hub. Policies regarding Transnational Higher Education (THNE) began to be drawn to enable Malaysia to become a quality THNE provider for the Asian region. Flew (2005) listed ten drivers of change in the high education sector. Some of which are shown below:

- Shifting from elite to mass higher education;

- Changing learner profile and expectations;

- Moving to lifelong learning;

- Flexible learning;

- Rethinking pedagogy around student-centred learning; and

- Transforming educational media with the use of ICTs.

Some of the above situations would be looking for the intervention of ICTs in the delivery modes of education and in trying to minimise accelerating costs in the provision of higher education, especially THNE. At the same time, it begins to be obvious that the provision of quality tertiary education through ICTs has made it crucial for higher education providers to make significant investments in new technological systems, software and infrastructure. The return in investment may be seen in the increased level of interactivity and creative engagement in the learning process. In conclusion, new forms of educational media that utilise ICTs have been responsible for massive improvements in the quality and delivery of higher education and promise bigger profits and opportunities for higher education providers in the region.

9.5       BIOTECHNOLOGY AND NEW MEDIA

The role of scientific research in the acquisition of knowledge is always accompanied by the need to ensure a smooth transmission of new findings and innovations. The field of life sciences has been identified as a major contributor of emerging knowledge especially in the last two decades. This field has brought forth an integrative dimension consisting of processes from the microscopic scale to the scale of ecosystems. Life sciences is able to initiate a major rethink of the processes of global development of knowledge and the role of the sciences in the history and development of human kind. According to Pau ( Breton and Lambert, 2003):

“The spectacular development of technologies for exploring living organisms, both biological and physical, has been accompanied by a tremendous explosion of knowledge.”

The field of biology or the “gloBIOlisation” is in fact an emergence of biological knowledge as a vital phenomenon in the globalisation of knowledge in the life sciences and technologies. One should realise the relations between technology and biology. A logical approach in the technological process of development of education is as shown in Figure 9.5.

 

Figure 9.5: Chart showing the relationship between technology and biology

Source: (Breton & Lambert, p. 122)

The biotechnology field utilises the information and knowledge of, for example, organisms which are extracted and identified and then used to cure diseases, to develop new drugs and remedies. In this process knowledge, physiology, innovation and economic development merge to be of service to society at large.

9.5.1 Biology and Automata

Another kind of technological application to biology is the creation of automata, the creation of “self-moving things”. The seventeenth century was filled with mechanical monsters, demonic machines in the fiction world of cinemas and computing projects. Lister (2001) uses the example of the Man-machine, taken from the manifesto of Julian de la Mettrie (1747). In cinema it began with the characters of Frankenstein and the later Terminator type of character.

The French philosopher Descartes (1662) had written on the machines that move on their own, reliving Aristotle’s idea of thinking even during the Classical period that there is always the possibility of self-moving biological technologies. Descartes and la Metrie had already hypothesised on the advent of moving mechanical parts of the human physiology.

Apart from the animated machines in the history of cyber culture, the biological development also takes the form of the study of the human DNA and genomes which has led to the development and combination of the field of biology and technology, which marked the beginning of the biotechnological era in scientific knowledge. This is accompanied by the fictionalised cyborg or what is referred to as artificial life.

- Since the Industrial Revolution, the world economy has experienced lots of changes in terms of technological innovations, managerial styles, form of work and economic organisations.

- The two broad trends, globalisation and information technology, are undermining the old order, forcing business to restructure.

- E-business may be defined as the application of information and communication technologies in support of all the activities of business.

- New media has become a popular channel for political communication activities.

- Computers, the Internet and the new media are perceived as tools for learning.

- New media, mainly the Internet, social media, chat rooms, blogs and Twitter have created new forms of human communication.

Biotechnology Cyberculture E-commerce Media Social On-line personalities

1. What is e-commerce? Discuss the advantages of the technology that makes e-commerce possible.

2. How has new media technology been used in politics in this country? Discuss its negative impacts.

3. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the usage of new media technology in education.

1. Search several blogs owned by our ministers. Analyse them and comment on their usage.

2. New media technology is used widely in education. Give some examples.