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 powerpower is being consolidated in new ways We have controlwe 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 communication 1.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 consumption  The rise of consumer culture Industrialization and culture

focus on consumer culture over artisanal culture Alters Values expectations what we think is important Consumer culture

Accelerating Ubiquitous Pervasive Constantly evolving In what ways might digital culture effect us? Other aspects of digital culture