The Materiality of Digital Media

T H E M AT E R I A L I T Y O F D I G I TA L M E D I A

A O I R - I R 1 6

J A M E S A L L E N - R O B E R T S O N

J A L L E N H @ E S S E X . A C . U K @ M I N YA L L

L E C T U R E R I N M E D I A A N D C O M M U N I C A T I O N

T H E PA P E R

1.To reintegrate digital media back into the media timeline.

2.To demonstrate that the materiality of digital media matters.

http://tinyurl.com/materialityofair

K E Y A I M S

New Media and Society, forthcoming

T H E P H O N O G R A P H

T E C H N I C A L C A S E S T U D I E S

and Gramophone

1.How forensic/formal realities afford use

2.Technical continuities with later media

M A G N E T I C TA P E




O P T I C A L M E D I A




T H E H A R D D I S K D R I V E



2.Technical continuities with prior media

3 C O N S E Q U E N C E S O F M E D I A M AT E R I A L I T Y

1 . O N T O L O G I C A L

2 . A G E N T I A L

3 . M E TA P H O R I C A L


• Demonstrate prefiguring of HDD in prior forms- old/new

• Demonstrating affording role of hardware rather than digital signal - physical/digital

• Reintegrating discussions of power, capital, access - “in the cloud”

B L U R R I N G B O U N D A R Y D I V I S I O N S

• CDs are digital but not“digital media”

• 44,100Hz - Video > Optical > MP3

• HDD does not inscribe digitally.

E X A M P L E S F R O M C A S E S T U D I E S


2 . A G E N T I A L

• We can see how prior media forms constrain affordances.

• Not subject/object but constellation of interobjectivity.

• Important: Power, resources, durable effects and social shaping.

C O N S E Q U E N C E S O F F O R M A N D F O R M S O F C O N S E Q U E N C E

2 . A G E N T I A L

• Read/Write Phonograph Could be digital, but materiality means slower and shorter lifespan.

• Digital Data Density - Head height, PRML, non-human scale

• Remix, bricolage, techniques in analogue - magnetic inscription not digital inscription.


3 . M E TA P H O R I C A L

• Many of our metaphors arise from technological change.

• Metaphors privilege some ways of thinking and discard others.

• ‘Information’ has become our ‘universal solvent’*

U N D E R S TA N D I N G O U R S E LV E S A N D S O C I E T Y


• If we were the ‘hard drive society’ rather than an information society would we look different?

• A population of constant movement, where decay occurs without rewriting.

• Algorithmically approximated into best fit models.

• Totally surveilled and rationalised by layers of governance.


T H A N K Y O U

The Materiality of Digital Media

Education

Transcript of The Materiality of Digital Media