1 ABCT2103 Topic 1 What is New Media

1 ABCT2103 Topic 1 What is New Media?

1. Explain the important elements and concepts in media technology;

2. Define the concept of new media;

3. Explain the development of media technology and its relationship with media and communication products;

4. Describe the characteristics and forms of new media; and

5. Identify the uses and applications of new media.

INTRODUCTION

Media and technology have a close relationship and the emergence of new technology has a direct impact on media products. Technology has been seen as the driving source of media. With the development and advancement of technology, we have witnessed various evolution and development of different types of media, beginning from print media to electronic media, and new media.

Technology keeps changing and with the Internet as the main platform, new media is constantly evolving which results in newer media applications. The emergence of all kinds of new media technology gives us more choices to use the easiest and most effective tool available.

This topic is an introduction to help you understand new media technology as a communication product. You will be introduced to the main elements and important concepts of new media technology.

ACTIVITY 1.1

Technology development has changed the way we communicate.

Now we have many media and communication tools to choose from.

But what do you think are the factors to be considered in choosing the right media to communicate with others?

MEDIA TECHNOLOGY

1.1         MEDIA TECHNOLOGY

Media is the plural term for “medium” which refers to methods of delivering information while technology is a science of delivering a certain medium. Therefore, both have a close relationship with each other. The changes in technology will have an impact on media - which is usually referred to as “communication media”.

Table 1.1: Relationship between Media and Technologies

Media	Technologies
Text (including graphics)	Print, Computer
Audio	Cassettes, Radio, Telephone
Television	Broadcasting, Video cassettes, Video discs, Cable, Fibre optics, satellite, video conference
Computing	Computer, telephone, CD-ROM, satellite, fibre optics, ISDN

Source: Bates, 1993

Media technology evolves in the same direction as human civilisation and it has always been said that technology plays a role in shaping society and views of the world. According to E. W Brody (1990), our communication eras have evolved through four different phases: tribal, literate, print, and electronic. And now, it is entering the fifth phase. Every phase has been associated with one specific form of communication or media which relates to the advancement of technology.

With the technological changes and phases, our communication system develops, from verbal to writing, printing, telecommunication, and now we are facing interactive communication. However, every media and communication technology that has existed-from print media to electronic, interpersonal, and new media-tend to bring the same characteristics, namely they cover long distances at good speed and bring more information to larger audiences

(Thurlow, Lengal & Tomic, 2004).

1.1.1 What is Technology?

The development and advancement of technology have positive and negative impacts depending on the definition that you hold. The word “technology” which originated from Latin, “texere”, has always been limited to machine usage. However, it is more than that.

C. L. Bush (1981) and Terry Flew (2004) associated the definition of technology with physical objects, context, and knowledge systems. According to Bush (1991):

Technology is a form of human cultural activity that applies the principles of science and mechanics to the solution of problems. It includes the resources, tools, processes, personnel, and systems developed to perform tasks and create immediate particular, and personal and/or competitive advantages in a given ecological, economic, and social context.

We can define technology in a broader perspective as follows:

(a) Technology as instrumentality;

(b) Technology as industrialisation; and

(c) Technology as new things.

Discuss each of the above.

ACTIVITY 1.2

The definition stresses that technology offers its advantages only with respect to a cultural situation. However, Terry Flew (2004) defines technology by these three levels:

x Technologies are the tools and artefacts used by humankind to transform nature, enable social interaction or external human capacities.

x Technologies refer to their context of use, as well as the physical form themselves.

x Technologies are a system of knowledge and social meaning that accompany their development and use.

Actually, technology also interweaves with culture in its development, use, and broader consequences. However, it does not have a direct impact on culture, it just acts as an intermediary.

1.1.2 Media Technology Revolution

The advancement of technology changes the media landscape. Since the emergence of the language and writing system, media as the medium for delivering messages in human communication keeps changing and evolving. In the 20th century, we encountered many new media technology. According to Hiebert and Gibbons (2000), this century is said to be the complete mass media century and has become the most communicative century in human history.

The channels or forms of communication have changed dramatically over the centuries but the idea behind the changes is still the same, namely to inform and entertain society. For Shirley Biagi (2003), we have entered three stages of information communication revolution as depicted in Figure 1.1:

FIRST INFORMATION COMMUNICATION REVOLUTION - The invention of phonetic writing. - Information reached a new kind of audience, remote from the source and uncontrolled by it. - Writing transformed knowledge into information, but remained exclusive among the privileged classes. - Use goat and sheep skins and paper as medium.

SECOND INFORMATION COMMUNICATION REVOLUTION - The invention of moveable printing machines by Guttenberg in 1455 in Germany. - Knowledge, which had belonged to the privileged classes, was now accessible to everyone. - The emergence of mass media or mass communication that was characterised by storability, portability, and accessibility.

THIRD INFORMATION COMMUNICATION REVOLUTION - Beginning around the 1950s, computers become the electronic storehouse and transmitters of vast amounts of information that previously relied on written words. - Computers are driving the majority of changes affecting today’s media. - For instance, satellite broadcasts, digital recording, Internet.

Source: Jan van Dijk, 2006

Figure 1.1: Communication revolution in media history

Source: Jan van Dijk (2006)

Based on Jan van Dijk (2006), several communication revolutions have taken

place in the history of media, 

(i) Structural revolution

In structural revolutions, fundamental changes take place in the coordinates of space and time. Media can be a form of communication fixed in space (in one place) or they may allow communication between different places.

They can also fix moments of communication to a certain time or enable us to bridge time, such as from sending smoke, drum, and fire signals in order to bridge places to using-up time by drawing on pottery and walls of caves. However, the development of writing enabled us to overcome both space and time. The most recent revolution is indicated by the emergence of new media where it combines an online and offline media which combines the transmission links and artificial memories.

(ii) Technical revolution.

In a technical revolution, a fundamental change takes place in the structure of connections, artificial memories and the reproduction of their contents. The revolution started with the development of the printing press in the reproduction of writing. In the second half of the 19th century, we experienced a technical revolution, based on the invention and construction

of long-distance connection by cable and air. The most current revolution is called digital revolution because it is characterised by the digital artificial memories, transmission, and reproduction.

The presence of the Internet and integration of satellite technology with telephone, television, and computer-based media indicates the appearance of “Second Media Age”. Based on the idea from Mark Porter, in this age, societies that we live in today are shaped by interactive technologies and network

communication. This age is marked by the shift from mass communication delivered by one medium to a lot of different media and messages that are more personalised and interactive.

Table 1.2: The Historical Distinction between the First Media Age and Second Media Age

First Media Age	Second Media Age
Centred (few speak to many).	Decentred (many speak to many).
One-way communication.	Two-way communication.
Predisposed to state control.	Evades state control.
An instrument of regime of stratification and inequality.	Democratising: facilitates universal citizenship.
Participants are fragmented and constituted as a mass.	Participants are seen to retain their individuality.
Influences consciousness.	Influences individual experience of space and time.

Source: Holmes, 2005

Before that, first media age referred to the logic of spreading and delivering information by some content providers to reach large audiences. This first age can be characterised as a centralised production (one-to-many), one way communication, under state control for the most part, fragmented mass audiences, and the shaping of social consciousness.

MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION

1.2     PRODUCTS

With the advancement of technology, we have many media and communication products to choose from in the process of delivering messages to others. We can use text-based media, electronic-based media, digital based-media, or computer-mediated communication.

When we say media, there are many forms and products. Generally, media and communication products are:

(i) Electronic media: communications delivered via electronic or electromechanical energy.

(ii) Digital media: electronic media used to store, transmit, and receive digitised information.

(iii) Multimedia: communications that incorporate multiple forms of information content and processing.

(iv) Print media: communications delivered via paper or canvas.

(v) Mass media: all means of mass communication.

(vi) Broadcast media: communications delivered over mass electronic communication networks.

(vii) Recording media: devices used to store information.

(viii) New media: media that can only be created or used with the aid of the modern computer processing power.

1.2.1 Print Media

The history of modern media begins with the printed book, especially when Gutenberg invented the printing machine in the 15th century. After that, printing led to a change in content·more secular, practical and popular works as well as political and religious pamphlets and tracts.

Print media is the industry associated with the printing and distribution of news through newspapers and magazines. Usually printed media are categorised into two: commercial printing and periodicals. Commercial printing refers to the print products that are produced occasionally such as brochures, catalogues, leaflets, and business cards. Periodicals are the printed matters that appear periodically such as newspapers, journals, and magazines. Print media also can be split into special product groups. Refer to Table 1.3.

Table 1.3: Some Forms of Print Media

1. Books	x Technology of movable type x Bound pages x Multiple copies x Commodity form x Multiple content x Individual in use x Publication freedom x Computer technology and desktop publishing are changing the way books are published, streamlining the process to create new products such as electronic books and audiobooks.
2. Newspapers	x Regular and frequent appearance x Commodity form x Informational content x Public sphere function x Relative freedom x Have a shorter lifespan compared to magazines x Now most newspaper publishing companies have launched online newspapers
3. Magazines	x Can be categorised into consumer publications, trade/technical/ professional publications, and company publications x Regular and frequent appearance x Commodity form x Informational content x Depending on circulation and support by advertising x Have a shorter lifespan compared to books x Generally multi-coloured

Table 1.4 shows timeline of the development of print media.

  Table 1.4: Timeline of Print Media

618 to 906	Tang Dynasty - the first printing is done in China, using ink on carved wooden blocks.
1423	In Europe, block printing is used to print books.
1452	In Europe, metal plates are first used in printing. Gutenberg begins printing the Bible, which he finishes in 1456.
1476	William Caxton begins using a Gutenberg printing press in England.
1605	First weekly newspaper published in Antwerp.
1702	Multi-coloured engraving invented by German Jakob Le Blon. The first English language daily newspaper is published called the Daily Courant.
1800	Iron printing presses invented.
1846	Cylinder press invented by Richard Hoe. Cylinder press can print 8,000 sheets an hour.
1891	Printing presses can now print and fold 90,000 4-pg papers an hour.
1903	The first tabloid style newspaper, the Daily Mirror is published.
1933	A war breaks out between the newspaper and radio industries. American newspapers try to force the Associated Press to terminate news service to radio stations.
1954	There are more radios than there are daily newspapers.
1967	Newspapers use digital production processes and began using computers for operation.

1.2.2 Broadcasting Media

Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or video signals which transmit programmes to an audience. The receiver or audience may include the general public or a relatively large subset of the whole. It forms a very large segment of the mass media.

Generally, broadcast can be defined as the following:

x To transmit (a radio or television programme) for public or general use  

x To send out or communicate, especially by radio or television

x To make known over a wide area

x To send a transmission or signal.

There are wide varieties of broadcasting systems, all of which have different capabilities. The largest broadcasting systems are institutional public address systems, which transmit nonverbal messages and music within a school or hospital, and low-powered broadcasting systems which transmit radio stations or television stations to a small area. National radio and television broadcasters have nationwide coverage, using re-transmitter towers, satellite systems, and cable distribution. Satellite radio and television broadcasters can cover even wider areas, such as the entire continent. Forms of broadcast media are as depicted in Table 1.5:

Table 1.5: Some Forms of Broadcast Media

1. Television	x Very large output, range and reach x Audiovisual content x Complex technology and organisation x Very diverse content forms x National and international character x Extensive regulation
2. Radio	x An audio (sound) broadcasting service. x Broadcast through the air as radio waves (a form of electromagnetic radiation) from a transmitter to a receiving antenna. x Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast common programming, either in syndication or simulcast or both. x Can be done via cable FM, local wire networks, and with the technology advent, now it can use satellite and the Internet.
3. Telephone broadcasting	x The earliest form of electronic broadcasting. x Telephone broadcasting began with the advent of “Theatre”. Phone" systems, created in 1881. x Grew to include telephone newspaper services for news and entertainment programming which were introduced in the 1890s. x The first examples of electrical/electronic broadcasting and offered a wide variety of programming.

Table 1.6 below shows timeline of the development of broadcast media.

Table 1.6: Timeline of Broadcast Media

1906	Reginald Fessenden invents wireless telephony, a means for radio waves to carry signals a significant distance.
1923	Vladimir Kosma Zworykin patents the iconoscope, the first television transmission tube.
1925	Radio's The Smith Family introduces the soap opera format.
1927	Philo Farnsworth transmits the first all-electronic television image.
1928	John Baird beams a television image from England to the United States.
1931	There are nearly 40,000 television sets in the United States; 9,000 of them are in New York City alone.
1936	The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) debuts the world's first television service with three hours of programming a day.
1944	The first instance of network censorship occurs. The sound is cut off on the Eddie Cantor and Nora Martin duet, „We're Having a Baby, My Baby and Me.
1945	The FCC creates the commercial broadcasting spectrum of 13 channels, and 130 applications for broadcast licenses follow.
1951	Colour television introduced in the U.S.
1956	The Wizard of Oz has its first airing on TV.
1971	TV finally allowed in SA
1975	First national TV broadcasts in SA
1980	Ted Turner launches CNN, the first all-news network.
1992	There are 900-million television sets in use around the world; 201 million are in the United States.
2000	Reality TV mania hits the world.

1.2.3 Electronic Media

Electronic media refers to media that use electronics or electromechanical energy for the end user to access the content. This is in contrast to print media, which are most often created electronically, but do not require electronics in order to be accessed by the end user.

The primary electronic media sources familiar to us are better known as video recording, audio recording, multimedia, CD-ROM publications and online content. Electronic media may be in either analogue or digital format. This means, it can also include new media. The table below shows some forms of electronic media.

Table 1.7: Forms of Electronic Media

1. Telegraphy	x Device for transmitting and receiving written messagesover long distances without physical transport of letters. x Message can be sent by electrical telegraph operator, telegrapher using Morse code (telegram), cable or wire (cablegram), and telex network.
2. ecording/Phono gram	x Involves multiple technologies of recording and dissemination. x All genres of music will be made accessible at all times in more places to more people. x Technology changed the form of recording storage: portable tape recorder, Sony Walkman, compact disc, music video.
3. Multimedia	x Devices used to store multimedia content. x Includes a combination of text, audio, still images, animation, video and interactivity content forms. x Usually recorded and played, displayed or accessed by information content processing devices, such as computerised and electronic devices.
4. Digital media	x Anything that is presented in an audio (sound) or video (visual) form that can be seen and heard by others. x Generally accessed by using complex electronics devices that contain digital media receivers or processors. These devices can include computers, mobile devices, video game consoles, projectors, television and radio. x Includes music files such as mp3, Midi or WMA files, video feeds found on the Internet at popular video websites, and animated flash or graphic design files and images used to create interactive websites and games.

ACTIVITY 1.3

There are many other media and communications products than those already discussed above. List these other products that you know of and discuss their main features.

1.3     CHARACTERISTICS OF NEW MEDIA

The concept of new media emerged as a result of technological development in traditional media such as video, CD, DVD, mobile networks, Internet, wireless systems, teletext, and online databases. According to McQuail (2001), the basic platform to new media communication holds on to two primary innovations: satellite communication and computers. This new media concept brings changes to our communication.

But what are "new media"? Why are some media considered as “new”? What different degree of “newness” is found among and across various media? What distinguishes them from other media, either socially or technologically? These questions have been asked in many discussions on new media. The differentiation between “new” and “old” media are not always very clear and creates many debates in the effort to make an appropriate definition.

There is a temptation to simply list the latest developments in media technologies and call those new. But with the rapid changes in technological development, it does not seem appropriate. Besides, there are new developments within a particular media that extend how that medium operate, but do not transform. An example is the use of cable and satellite delivery systems to allow multichannel television, leading to the development of subscription-based television. This changed the range of television options but had not dramatically changed the experience of television to viewers.

The idea of new media involves both the development of unique forms of digital media and the remaking of more traditional media forms to adopt and adapt to the new media technologies. That is why the line between “new” and “old” media are hard to draw.

So, how do we define “new media”? We will look at the definition in the next section.

1.3.1 The Definition of New Media.

The term “new media” has been used since the 1960s with the rise of modern computer technology, but it began to be widely used in the 1990s. It is a broad term that encompasses the amalgamation of old or traditional media such as film, images, spoken, and written word with the interactive power of computer and communication technology.

James Gordon Bennett (2004), in his definition said that it is a sort of blending of many parts of the old media in ways that enable new methods of presentation.

For instance, in the early forms of telecommunication, this technology allowed two people to communicate through Morse code, but now with the Internet millions of people may be reached at the same time in more interesting ways. But the content of new media such as on the World Wide Web is frequently a recombinant-derived from existing media content and developed in other formats-and reproduced in a digital format. Figure 1.2 below shows examples of how such content are transformed onto the Internet.

This brings us to the question of what is new for society from the new media.

Some scholars stress the need to be aware of how the mediation of communication through technological forms renders communication as a form of social practice. Leah A. Lievrouw and Sonia M. Livingstone (2002) look at new media as information and communication technologies and their associated social context incorporating the following elements:

x The artefacts or devices that enable and extend our ability to communicate;

x The communication activities and practices we engage in to develop and use these devices; and

x The social arrangements and organisations that form around these devices and practices.

In an effort to determine differentiation between “new” and “old” media, we can see from a few perspectives of an individual user such as the following:

x Degree of interactivity as indicated by the ratio of response or initiative on the part of the user to the “offer” of the source.

x Degree of social presence (or sociability) experienced by the user.

x Degree of autonomy where the issue is whether or not a user feels in control of content and use, more or less independent of the source.

x Degree of playfulness, referring partly to uses for entertainment, enjoyment against utility and instrumentality.

x Degree of privacy associated with the use of a medium or its typical or choice content. This includes the degree to which it is personalised and unique.

The term "new media" actually refers to a wide range of changes either in media production, distribution, storage and use. New media technologies facilitate “mediated interpersonal communication” and the latest technologies seem to be shifting the balance towards interpersonal communication. Therefore, it is not just about media and the technological changes, it is also about its impact on the textual, conventional, and cultural aspects. However, many “new media” definitions give attention to the technological characteristic such as in Table 1.8:

Table 1.8: Various Definitions of New Media

Source	Definition of New Media
Ronald E. Rice (1984)	Those communication technologies, typically involving computer capabilities (microprocessor or mainframe) that allow or facilitate interactivity among users or between users and information.
Lee B. Becker & Klaus Schoenbach (1989)	The media are "new" for us if there are recent additions to the electronic mass media system such as cable broadcasting, satellite broadcasting, video cassette recorder and teletext.
Van Djik (1999)	New media express forms that integrate past communication technologies into their structure and possess noticeable advances on forms of interactivity.
Straubhaar, J., LaRose, R. &Davenport, L. (2008)	Integrate the many specialised channels of communication into all-purpose digital networks that will provide access at the convenience of the audiences.
William e. al (1994)	New media as applications of microelectronics, computers, and telecommunications that offer new services or enhancement of old ones.

With those definitions, we can adopt the definition of new media from Terry Flew (2004), that refers to new media as “those forms that combine 3Cs·computing and information technology, communication networks, and digitised media and information content·arising out of convergence”. With the convergent 3Cs, we can say that the Internet and the Web are examples of new media.

Figure 1.3: The three Cs of convergence media

The convergence, as depicted in Figure 1.3, shows rapid development in technologically mediated production, with the Internet and Web becoming the centre of overlapping 3Cs, including the following:

x Computer-mediated communication;

x New ways of distributing and consuming;

x Virtual reality; and

x A whole range of transformation and dislocations of established media.

Based on the above discussion, generally, new media can be defined as follows:

They are media which are both integrated and interactive and also use digital code at the turn of the 20th and 21st century.

With this definition, it is easy to identify media as old or new. For instance, traditional television is integrated as it contains images, sound, and text, but it is not interactive or based on digital code. The old telephone is interactive but not integrated as it only transmits speech and sounds and it does not work with digital code.

The distinction between new media and old media emerged with the advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web. Old media generally refers to pre-Internet information outlets such as television, radio, books, magazines, and newspapers. New media not only includes communication mediums unique to the Internet, but also includes mobile communication devices such as cell phones and smart phones. Examples of new media communications include websites, chat rooms, bulletin boards, list servers, and social networking platforms.

1.3.2 What is New on New Media?

When we say new media, we always think of the newer technologies. The sense of „new‰ in new media refers to “the most recent”. The term :new media" comes with claims and hopes that they will deliver increased productivity, educational opportunity and open up new creative and communicative horizons. So, new media can also refer to the following:

x New textual experiences: new kinds of genre, textual form, entertainment, pleasure, and patterns of media consumption.

x New way of representing the world: offer new representational possibilities and experiences such as in immersive virtual environment.

x New relationship between subjects (users and consumers) and media technologies.

x New experiences of the relationship between embodiment, identity and community.

x New patterns of organisation and production.

The new media also refers to the intensity of change if we see it in the sense of functions. From the 1980s, the world of media and communication began to look different and this difference was not limited to any one sector even though the timing of changes may be different from medium to medium. It involves technological, institutional, and cultural changes or development. According to Lister et. al (2003), the changes of that media are associated as the following:

x A shift from modernity to post-modernity: a contested but widely subscribed attempt to characterise deep and structural changes in societies and economies with correlative cultural changes.

x Intensifying process of globalisation: a dissolving of national states and boundaries in terms of trade, corporate organisation, customs and cultures, identities and beliefs in which new media have been seen as a contributory element.

x A replacement of an industrial age of manufacturing by a “post-industrial” information age: a shift in employment, skill, investment and profit in the production of material goods to services and information industries.

x A decentring of established and centralised geo-political orders: the weakening of mechanisms of power and control that is facilitated by the dispersed, boundary-transgressing, networks of new communication media.

New media are often called multimedia - and also digital media - where it involves the integration of telecommunication, data communication and mass communication in a single medium. The integration can take place at one of the following levels:

x Infrastructure ă such as combining the different transmission links and equipment for telephone and computer (data) communication.

x Transportation ă such as Internet telephony and web TV riding on cable and satellite television.

x Management ă for example a cable company that exploits telephone lines and a telephone company that exploits cable television

x Services ă the combination of information and communication services on the Internet.

x Types of data ă putting together sounds, data, text, and images.

Generally, new media technology refers to any type of application meant to transfer information via digital techniques, computerised systems, or data networks. First established in the 20th century, new media technology is most readily associated with information transfers meant to be manipulated in some way. Most forms of this technology are interactive and contain compressed data designed to be accessed in a variety of markets. The most prevalent examples of new media technologies include Internet-based concepts like websites or digital mediums such as CD-ROMs, and DVDs.

1.3.3 The Characteristics of New Media

There are numerous attempts to characterise the new media, especially as embodied on the Internet. This is because new media has commonly been equated with the Internet which has shown clear properties of convergence. Internet also has all the 3Cs as Flew said, besides the outstanding differentiation characteristic compared to print and broadcast media.

Based on our general definition, the new media has three main elements to characterise it: integration, interactivity, and digital code. However, there are a few more characteristics that may be added, as mentioned by Lister et. al (2003): hypertextuality, dispersal, and virtuality.

Table 1.9: New Media Characteristics

Integration	The integration leads to a gradual merging of telecommunication, data communication, and mass communication. And the process is enabled by full digitalisation of all media and broadband transmission through all connections by cable and by air.
Interactivity	Can be defined generally as a sequence of action and reaction. It refers to the users’ ability to directly intervene and change the images and texts that they access. So, the audience for new media becomes a “user” rather than “viewer” or “reader” of media products.
Digitality	It is a technical media characteristic defining the form of new media. It means that in using computer technology, every item of information and communication can be transformed and transmitted in the form of strings of ones and zeros called bytes, with every single 1 or 0 being a bit.
Hypertextuality	Hypertext refers to the text displayed on a computer or other electronic devices with references to other text that the reader can immediately access, usually by a mouse click or keypress sequence. Apart from running text, hypertext may contain tables, images and other presentational devices. Hypertext is the underlying concept defining the structure of the World Wide Web, making it an easy-to-use and flexible format to share information over the Internet.
Dispersal	Refers to dispersed media system where both the production and distribution of new media have become decentralised, highly individuated, and woven ever more closely into the fabric of life. The new media determine a segmented, differentiated audience that although massive in terms of number, is no longer a mass audience in terms of simultaneity and uniformity of the message it receives.
Virtuality	It refers to the metaphorical “place” and “spaces” created by or within communication networks. In this term, it creates opportunities for the user to adopt markers or identity that differs from their identity as constituted in the physical and everyday social world. It also refers to the possibility of forming new kinds of association and community which are not dependent upon spatial location and can transcend geographical, social and political boundaries.

1.4     DIGITALISATION

The progressive digitalisation of mass media and telecommunications content begins to blur the earlier distinction between the communication of information and its processing, as well as between people and machines. Digitalisation makes communication from persons easy as it is between persons. Also blurred are the distinctions among information types: numbers, words, pictures, and sounds, and eventually testes, odours, and possibly even sensations, all might one day be stored, processed, and communicated in the same digital form.

Digitalisation in very simple terms is information that ends up in sound and images in peopleÊs home (or elsewhere) which is produced, stored, and transmitted in digitised form - that is in the form originally associated with computers. As we know, digitalisation refers to the conversion of analogue information into the computer-readable format of 1s and 0s.

In digital media process the physical properties of the input data, light, and sound waves are converted not into another object but into numbers, into abstract symbols. Once coded numerically, the input data in a digital media production can immediately be subject to the mathematical process of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division through algorithms contained within software.

At the beginning, digitalisation which was introduced by the philosopher Leibinz in the late 17th century, and through the 19th century, was developed by mathematician and inventor Charles Babbage, and formulated by Alan Turing in the late 1930s as a principle or an idea. In the last decades of 20th century the digital encoding of data moved out from laboratories of scientific, military, and corporate establishments to be applied to communication and entertainment media.

The new media is always associated with digitalisation. That is why the new media can also be referred to as digital media. Based on Flew (2004), this media has the characteristics as shown in Table 1.10:

Table 1.10: Characteristics of New Media

1. Manipulable	Digital information is easily changeable and adaptable at all stages of creation, storage, delivery, and use
2. Networkable	Information can be shared and exchanged among large number of users simultaneously, and across enormous distance.
3. Dense	Very large amounts of digital information can be stored in small physical spaces or on network servers.
4. Compressible	The amount of capacity that digital information takes up on any network can be reduced through compression and decompressed when needed.
5. Impartial	Digital information carried across networks is indifferent to what forms it represents, who owns or created them, or how they are used.

Digital goods have a close relationship with networks and information technology (IT). Networks are crucial for the delivery of IT services and digital goods. IT services control and administer networks and digital goods. Individual software are part of IT services. Digital goods are those such as music and video

which can be exchanged through the Internet. And the intersection of the three areas, Internet application represents complex products which are build in networks, IT services and digital goods. According to Michael Voselsang (2010), this explains why the Internet is often used as a synonym for digitalisation.

Figure 1.4: Relationship between networks, IT services and digital goods.

The impacts of digitalisation are both pervasive and cumulative, and form the core of growing “informatisation” of society. The informatisation of society is marked by faster growth of sectors associated with the production and distribution of information and communication and by the generalised usage of ICT technologies in all areas.

1.5     FORMS OF NEW MEDIA

New media technology changes rapidly all the time. With continuous development and advancement, new forms of new products always emerge. New media has also greatly advanced cellular communications in the last twenty years, through applications that connect with the Internet and other technologies.

Now, we are seeing many kinds of new media products than before and it is becoming more sophisticated, be it storage (CD-ROM, DVD CD-I, databases, laserdisc), display (interactive television, high-definition television, LCD), and application forms (e-mail, BBS, MUDs, cyberchat).

Table 1.4: Some Forms of New Media.

Electronic Bulletin Board (BBS)	Computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal programme. Once logged in, users can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging messages with others, either through electronic mail or on a public message board. It deals with a full range of human interests.
Online chat	Refers to any kind of communication over the Internet, but is primarily meant to refer to direct one-on-one chat or text-based group chat, using tools such as instant messaging, online forums or over fully immersive graphical social environment. Some chat rooms such as Yahoo! use both text and voice simultaneously.
Electronic mail (e-mail)	Is a form of computer-to-computer messaging that has existed since the first computer networks in 1960s. E-mail has emerged to serve a variety of functions, sometimes replacing traditional telephone-based voice communication among people. The growth of the Internet made e-mail a rapid and easy replacement for traditional postal services.
Multi-user Domains (MUDs)	This refers to a broad class of online adventure games in which at least two users play in a fantasy world and help each other. MUDs has become an addiction among Netizens seeking interactivity in a creative computing environment. Most MUDs reflect the most creative side of the online world.
Pay-Per-View TV	Television service that invites viewers to pay to watch selected individual programmes. It is available via cable or satellite. It has been widely used for boxing and other sporting events.
Videophone	A telephone with a video screen, and is capable of full duplex (bi-directional) video and audio transmissions for communication between people in real-time. Currently videophones are particularly useful to the deaf and speech-impaired who can use them with sign language and with a video relay service. It also used for tele-medical or tele-educational services.
Personel Digital Appliances (PDA)	These are handheld computers that initially acted simply as electronic pocket notebooks, organisers, address books, record keeper, and language translators. But by the end of the 1990s, it became a fully functional computing and communication mobile.
Videotex	Videotex refers to systems that provide interactive content and display it on a television screen, typically using modems to send data in both directions. A close relative is teletext, which sends data in one direction only, typically encoded in a television signal. Unlike the modern Internet, traditional videotex services were highly centralised. Videotex in its broader definition can be used to refer to any such service, including the Internet, BBS, online service providers, and even the arrival/departure displays at an airport.
Smartphone	A mobile phone that offers more advanced computing abilities and connectivity than a basic telephone. It allows the user to install and run much more advanced applications based on a specific platform.
Social media	It is referred to as computer-based technology guides by users that enable the individual to connect with each other via online and share information and comments through easy publishing tools. It is also known as online applications, platforms, and media which aim to facilitate interaction, collaboration, and the sharing of content such as blogs, social networking, podcast, and photo sharing.

1.6     USES AND APPLICATIONS OF NEW MEDIA

New media technology has been used in various aspects of our life as individual users, especially for communication and collaboration purposes. We use the new media for entertainment and leisure too. Besides that, this media has also been used in other industries and the education field.

The following is a selection of application areas affected by the new media technologies.

(a) Advertisng:

Online advertising has become the fastest growing advertising medium. ZenithOptimedia expects online advertising to account for 8.6% of global ad spending in 2008, 9.4% in 2009, and 11.5% in 2010. Online advertising is a form of promotion that uses the Internet and World Wide Web for the expressed purpose of delivering marketing messages to attract customers.

ACTIVITY 1.4

There are many types of online advertising. Define each of the following types of online advertising:

(a) Floating ad

(b) Expanding ad

(c) Polite ad

(d) Wallpaper ad

(e) Trick banner

(f) Pop-up

(g) Pop-under

(h) Video ad

(i) Map ad

(j) Mobile ad

(k) Interstitial ad

(b) Relationship Marketing:

Relationship marketing involves satisfying customers with quality products while building a long-lasting, trusting relationship with them. This type of marketing has been transformed by the capabilities of the Internet. Social networking has taken off as a popular way of connecting with like-minded individuals all over the globe. This new media application enables organisations to increase brand/customer loyalty while at the same time getting feedback from customers and discovering what changes they want.

Companies are now taking advantage of this trend. For instance, many publishers such as university presses use the social networking and blog to build connection with their customers and to get their responses.

(c) Politics/Journalism

Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other materials such as graphics or video. Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject.

The ability of readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Since 2002, blogs have gained increasing notice and coverage for their role in breaking, shaping, and spinning news stories. Blogs have a huge influence in politics, including in Malaysia.

Journalists treat blogs very seriously, and they have a great impact on politics. The new media become the alternative source of news and compete with mainstream media.

(d) Education

Many educators are already employing new media technologies such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, virtual worlds, and streaming video in the course materials. Web-based learning will probably not replace the traditional face-to-face way of learning, However, it becomes a tool to enhance the conventional approach to learning. Since lifelong learning is becoming increasingly important in so many industries, it is much easier to ensure its success by using new media approaches.

(e) Entertainment

Consumers are starting to watch full-length television episodes online. They also spend their leisure hours by surfing the Internet, downloading or listening music, and playing games. What is even more interesting is the trend towards audience-provided entertainment where audience is created.

They create videos, blogs, web sites, music, and other kinds of entertainment for others. Entertainment is not solely provided by the media.

(f) Socialising

One of the uses of the new media is to socialise. The user can meet friends or find new friends via social networking. These sites are extremely important for teenagers. According to a recent survey of online teenagers conducted by Pew Internet & American Life Project, 55% of all online young Americans between the ages of 12-17 make use of a social networking site. Also, older female teenagers are more likely to use these sites. They are used to „reinforce pre-existing friendships‰. Young boys use these sites for flirting purposes as well as to make new friends (Lenhart 2007). There are approximately 1,000 Internet dating sites in the United States and the major ones are Match.com, eHarmony, and Yahoo!

Personals.

x Media refers to the methods of delivering information while technology is a science of delivering a certain medium. This is called communication media.

x Technological changes and phases are causes for a communication system to develop, from verbal to writing, printing, telecommunication, and now interactive communication.

x Advancement of technology changes the media landscape.

x According to Jan van Dijk (2006), several communication revolutions that have taken place in the history of media are divided into two: structural revolution and technical revolution.

x The concept of new media emerged as a result of the technological development in traditional media.

x According to McQuail (2001), the basic platform to this new media communication holds on to two primary innovations: satellite communication and computers.

x The idea of new media involves both the development of unique forms of digital media and the remaking of more traditional media forms to adopt and adapt to the new media technologies.

x James Gordon Bennett (2004), defines new media as a sort of a blending of many parts of the old media in ways that enable new methods of presentation.

x New media has three main elements to characterise it: integration, interactivity, and digital code.

x New media technology has been used in various aspects of life as individual users, especially for communication and collaboration purposes.

x Some application areas affected by the new media technologies are advertising, relationship marketing, journalism, education, entertainment and socialising.

KEY TERMS

Computer technology

Convergence

Digitalisaton

Interactivity

Internet

Media revolution Networks

New media

Technology

SELF ASSESMENT 1

1. What is new media?

2. What are the differences between "old media" and "new media"?

3. What are the main characteristics of new media?

4. Why is new media always referred to as digital media?

5. For what reasons do we use new media?

SELF ASSESMENT 2

1. We have various kinds of media. Pick five media and communication products and think about the strengths and the weaknesses of each of it.

2. One of the main characteristics of new media is “interactivity” Explain 

3. Digitalisation blurs the distinction between old and new media. Why?

4. Digital goods, networks, and information technology have a close relationship in the formation of new media. Identify the relationship.

5. New media has been used for socialising. Identify the application of the new medium that offers the benefits and explain how it is used.