COM 215 Media History

Defining New Media Affordances and Uses of New Media Media Convergence

Break Defining Culture

OUTLINE

Old media (analog systems)Photography, sound recording, cinema, radio,

television recorded on a continuous medium that resembles or corresponds to the original communication

Digitalization – all information (images, texts, sounds) converted to binary code (ones and zeros) and decoded precisely

Define new media

Perfect reproduction, perfect reproducibility (MP3 Transportable, malleable Global Instantaneous Persistent

Affordances of new media

Wikis Blogs

Content sharing sites

Social media networks

Look at platforms

• digital games• memes• tweets, posts, comments• blogs

• Mashups and remixes

Look at new cultural forms

• New media enchroaches on • time (spent on old media)

• media based on physical place (print news)

• always on, available, and updatable

• ad revenue

New media’s impact on old media

Internet Lowers barriers to entry (distribution costs) Can establish direct relationship to audiences Selective consumption (buy/access bits of the whole) Dialogic, interactive, and greater audience participation

New media’s impact on old media

Not replacing but converging . . . Convergence

Cultural forms (remix video, ebooks) Corporate ownership (mergers, vertical

integration - Google) Communication Systems (TV and Internet –

YouTube) Authorship (users-producers, professionals-

amateurs) Models of communication (Mass media and

social media – mass self communication)

Impact on old media ?

In the US digital cable is being delivered by cable lines

Effects on Cultural Consumption Interactive services: pay-per-view

programming, timeshifting (DVR), niche programming, abundance of choice

Narrowcasting and the disintegration of a public forum

Case Study: Digital Television

New industrial alliances (telecoms, cable, computer industry, entertainment companies)

Demand for content consolidates power traditional content producers and copyright owners Hollywood film companies New independent producers Vastly overpaid creative talent

Distributors continue to favor their own programming

Case Study: Time Warner refusing to carry competitors channels (Disney-ABC)

Case Study: Digital Television

MP3 compression standard allows files to be stored & shared

High bandwidth allows streaming & downloading

Computers allow storage & playback Software allows ripping File-sharing and peer to peer enables piracy

Case Study: Music distribution

Impact on industry? Impact on creativity and cultural

production? Impact on cultural consumption

Case Study: Recorded Music

Critical analysis of digital media

We have the power power is being consolidated in new ways

We have control we are puppets of digital media spaces

Culture - ways that individuals, groups, and societies express themselves in order to make sense of their lives and articulate shared values.

Products of consumer culture articulate and deliver values to large numbers of people…movies, novels, songs

Values often contested

Defining Culture

5 eras or phases of mass communication1. Oral

2. Written

3. Print

4. Electronic

5. Digital

The last three eras coincide with the rise of industrialism

Industrialization and culture

demographic shifts of rural populations to urban locations

dislocating families, removing traditional means of self identification (family, community, neighborhood, village)

self-identification through consumptionThe rise of consumer culture

Industrialization and culture

focus on consumer culture over artisanal culture

Alters Valuesexpectationswhat we think is important

Consumer culture

AcceleratingUbiquitousPervasiveConstantly evolving

In what ways might digital culture effect us?

Other aspects of digital culture