According to Lev Manovich, new media are the cultural objects which use digital computer technology for distribution and exhibition. These are cultural objects which do not use production for computing and storage but for final distribution. In that case therefore, new media as it has been defined in her book the language of new media will include such cultural objects as Web sites, computer games, computer multimedia, CD-ROMs, DVDs, virtual reality and computer generated special effects (Noah & Nick, 17). It is important to distinguish cultural objects that are not part of the new media. These include television programs, feature films, magazines, books and other paper based publications.
In the modern world however, new media is understood as the mix between the older and newer cultural convention for data presentation, access and manipulation. Lev continues to say that we can define the new media in an opposite way. This will be the definition which takes specific aesthetic features which keep reappearing at an early stage of deployment of every new modern media and telecommunication technology. New media can therefore be described as a massive speed up of various manual techniques that all have existed before.
The new media have three major problems. First, they are revised every year with the emergence and discovery of new part of culture that eventually comes to rely on computing technology for distribution (Noah & Nick, 17). The second problem is that an increase in the use of computer distribution in most forms of culture may end up rendering the term new media without any specificity. Finally, the third problem is the lack of clarity on the possible effects of the computer based distribution on the aesthetic of what is being distributed.
The examples from the Lev article support his position about new media due to the following reasons; new media is digital controlled by software, it is a mix between existing cultural convention and that of software, it is the aesthetic that accompanies the early stage of new media and it is a faster execution of algorithms previously executed manually.
New media is a faster programming machine that executes different algorithms quickly unlike humans can do (Noah & Nick, 20). The computer program performs various tasks at a higher speed than man can do. Through these speed we are able to produce better quality movies and interactive computer graphics. New media is portrayed as digital data controlled by software. The new media is reduced to digital data that can be manipulated by software. This allows the automation of media operations to generate multiple versions of the same object.
It can also be said to be a mix between existing culture convention and the conventions software. The production of the Hollywood movies involves the assembling of much software that generates characters, dialogue and sets that are taken from assets database. However, they are not used in all areas of film production such as script writing. The software has developed from simple to the more complex once in the present days that can perform a lot of things such as the computer game software.
New media is the aesthetic that accompanies the early stage of new technology. This new media could be new modern media and communication technology. In the beginning of every new media and communication technology era aesthetic strategy seem to accompany it (Noah & Nick, 19). These aesthetic represent the real new media that appear to be unique. Example of these aesthetic in clued the development of digital technology which saw the achievement of moving images displayed on the desktop.
Works Cited
Wardrip-Fruin, Noah, and Nick Montfort. The New Media Reader. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2003. Print.
