This blog is an introduction to the concept of new media. It is an important idea to consider as we are living in a world where technology is constantly advancing and we seem to be living in a digital age.
So to begin, I thought that it may be useful to explain the term new media...
There are many different forms of media, but their purposes remain the same - to pass on information. To call something "new" there must have been a predecessor, in this case old media. Old media is a term that describes technology that is seen to be out of date and has been replaced by something more technologically advanced. This means that if something is labelled as new media it does not necessarily mean that it will be new media forever as science and technology is always developing products to become more advanced. It is just recently produced and perhaps an updated version of a product that has been around for a long time, it is not necessarily unique. An example of this type of convergence from old to new media is from vinyl to cassette to c.d and perhaps most recently transferring music files straight from computer to Mp3 player.
Communication through the media can sometimes lead to misunderstandings, as certain forms of media are unable to show all cultural signals that people use to communicate. For instance speaking on a telephone does not allow the person to show their body language. With an updated version of the telephone, the video phone, they are able to communicate through both speech and body language.
