Published on

Published in: Technology, Business
  • Be the first to comment

  • Be the first to like this

No Downloads
Total views
On SlideShare
From Embeds
Number of Embeds
Embeds 0
No embeds

No notes for slide


  1. 1. Key Concepts in Manovich
  2. 2. Defining New Media <ul><li>New media refers to the use of computers </li></ul><ul><li>(digital tech) to “record, store, create, and </li></ul><ul><li>distribute media” (43) </li></ul><ul><li>Note: A printed book or poster could still be </li></ul><ul><li>seen as “new media” (at least in part) if </li></ul><ul><li>computers were involved in its creation or </li></ul><ul><li>distribution. </li></ul>
  3. 3. Numerical Representation <ul><li>All forms of media are ultimately stored as </li></ul><ul><li>binary (numerical) code on a computer and </li></ul><ul><li>thus are easier to combine and transform. </li></ul><ul><li>This principle is axiomatic (the basis of all the others) </li></ul>
  4. 4. Modularity <ul><li>“ Media elements, be it images, sounds, shapes </li></ul><ul><li>or behaviors are represented as collections of </li></ul><ul><li>discrete [numeric] samples…These elements are </li></ul><ul><li>assembled into larger-scale objects but they </li></ul><ul><li>continue to maintain their separate </li></ul><ul><li>identity” (51) </li></ul>
  5. 5. Examples of Modularity <ul><li>Google image search (takes images from websites and puts in new context—enabled by modular structure of the web) </li></ul><ul><li>Bb 2.0 (each video retains its own identity as distinct part of youtube, but they are also re-combined to make a new media object in another location) </li></ul><ul><li>The concept of “layers” (in image, video, or sound editors) </li></ul>
  6. 6. Automation <ul><li>Decreases “human intentionality” in the creative process. </li></ul><ul><li>Common examples: photoshop filters, wordpress templates, autotune </li></ul><ul><li>Blurs lines between professional and amateur. </li></ul>
  7. 7. Automation and Database Logic <ul><li>“ The Internet, which can be thought of as one huge </li></ul><ul><li>distributed media database, also crystallized the basic </li></ul><ul><li>condition of the new information society: overabundance of </li></ul><ul><li>information of all kinds…By the end of the 20 th century, the </li></ul><ul><li>problem became no longer how to create a new media object </li></ul><ul><li>such as an image; the new problem became how to find the </li></ul><ul><li>object which already exists somewhere…The emergence of </li></ul><ul><li>new media coincides with the second stage of a media society, </li></ul><ul><li>now concerned as much with accessing and re-using existing </li></ul><ul><li>media as with creating new one” (55) </li></ul>
  8. 8. Variability <ul><li>Old media involves human creator(s) composing a fixed/stable text that is then copied and distributed through mechanical means. </li></ul><ul><li>New media (like Islands, Carving, and Wilderness ) “give rise to many different versions. And rather than being created completely by a human author, these versions are often in part automatically assembled by a computer” (56) </li></ul>
  9. 9. Interface and Database <ul><li>“ It becomes possible to separate the levels of </li></ul><ul><li>content (data) and interface. A number of </li></ul><ul><li>different interfaces can be created to the same </li></ul><ul><li>data. A new media object can be defined as one </li></ul><ul><li>or more interfaces to a multimedia </li></ul><ul><li>database” (57) </li></ul><ul><li>(Examples: Islands is an interface to; </li></ul><ul><li>wordpress templates are interfaces to your blog </li></ul><ul><li>content) </li></ul>
  10. 10. Customization / Personalization <ul><li>You enter information about yourself and then the automated software creates a personalized interface to the database just for you. </li></ul><ul><li>Reveals a post-industrial logic. </li></ul><ul><li>(Examples: the wilderness downtown; amazon </li></ul><ul><li>recommendations; pandora) </li></ul>
  11. 11. Hypermedia <ul><li>A structure of links for accessing multimedia content (each user makes their own path) </li></ul><ul><li>Bb 2.0 and the dumpster are hypermedia texts (Islands is mostly not hypermedia since the variability is controlled solely by the program not the user). </li></ul><ul><li>In a basic sense, the entire world wide web (internet) is one big hypermedia database. </li></ul>
  12. 12. Transcoding <ul><li>Key computer concepts (interface, database, search, modularity) begin to influence how understand ourselves and our culture (McLuhanesque: the computer is the message). </li></ul><ul><li>The computer database starts to rival the print or oral narrative as the primary, valued cultural form. </li></ul><ul><li>“ Computer” can refer to any digital technology not just a desktop or laptop. </li></ul>