What is New Media?

I feel that new media is an evolved form of old media. Since it is similar to the old media except new media is simpler and more accessible than old media.

More people now have access to the tools of new media and those tools have become much easier to use. Clive Thompson makes note of this in his wired.com article about Youtube videos. He talks about how everyone now has access to the tools that are required to create films. Even I have created my own videos and posted them on youtube. They are short stop motion animation videos made with Lego pieces. Anyone can easily create a film now.

Software such as Microsoft Movie Maker makes it easy to create your own film. Or programs like Skype or AIM allows people to easily communicate to people across the globe both in instant text messages or video chats in conjunction with webcams. Hardware such as laptops, cellphones, or even video game consoles allow you to access those software applications with ease. Of course none of this would be possible without internet. Most new media is transmitted via the internet such as blogs, video chats, email, or wikis.

In my opinion new media will coexist with it and enhance it. New and old media will probably adapt features from each other as time passes on and may create a third form of media which is a hybrid of new and old media.In certain areas I believe there will always be a demand for physical forms of media. Old media has the advantage of nostalgia. People will still want to have books and dvds on their shelves as digital distribution makes streaming videos and reading ebooks more widespread. You cannot feel an ebook nor can you have your ebook signed by your favorite author. Streaming videos won't have collector boxes or posters and other things that often come with the physical version. Of course, there is always the possibility of virtual worlds being so realistic to the point where you can read your ebook like a regular book in a virtual world. In other areas such as communication, video chats and instant messages are a vast improvement over cellphone calls. But I did say earlier that they can always adopt features from each other, so there is no reason why cellphones can't be equipped with video chat capabilities. While image hosting websites allow people to share their images easily, and social networking sites allow people to keep in touch with their friends even if they no longer see each other in real life. The future is a mystery and uncertain, only time will tell.