Weeks 3 and 4’s readings cover the whole technical definition of what is new media, and it’s no coincidence that the chapter was called, “What Is New Media?”, from the book, “The Language of New Media.”

What intrigued me how was the author, Manovich, can classify and categorise multiple platforms of media, new and old, digital and analog, with such ease. Just thinking of the magnitude of how computers, AI, and algorithms have made an impact on people’s everyday lives can be overwhelming, however, Manovich was able to break things down to simple terms and classify various platforms, methods of production, exhibition and distribution, into an easy way for readers like myself to understand. An example would be how she broke down the principles of new media into 5 characteristics, and contrasting them with old media.

In the third principle, Automation, Manovich identified 2 types of automation, low and high level of automation. And as she describes how high level automation functions using a “smart camera” in a virtual environment where a user can interact with animated characters, engaging in conversations and dialogue based on the user’s emotional state, reactions, facial expressions and more. I can’t help but to be reminded of an episode I’ve watched on Black Mirror, called, “Be Right Back”. Where the plot revolves around a girl who communicates with her dead boyfriend through an app that gathers all of the past tweets, Facebook posts, comments, likes, shares, pictures, videos, basically developing an online avatar of the guy from his online profile and virtual footprints. An analysis of the video can be viewed below.

The reading also raises issues on media texts that could already exists as some form on the Internet.

“These technologies allowed us, over the course of 150 years, to accumulate an unprecedented amount of media materials…” (Manovic, 2002)

This line along with the paragraph this line was from reminded me of a time during my internship back home in Singapore with a post-production company, VHQ Media. I was interned as an offline editor, and I was tasked to find stock footage for a TV commercial of not just a few shots, but quite a decent amount of landscape shots of birds, weather, and more, which will be employed by the online artist at a later stage in the post production. I realise how reliant we have become on existing media that has already been shot or produced and then using it in another way or representation before it to takes on as a new role or function, as a new form of media, and I strongly believe it does not stop there. Websites such as, Getty Images, Pond5, and ShutterStock, provide stock footage, royalty free images and music, soundtracks, to users all over the world to create their own content. Sounds a little oxymoronic to me. You buy other people’s work to use in your own projects to make new media? This can also be tied up with Week 2’s reading by Adrian Miles on “all parts remain as parts” on the Internet, simply implying that, although I have bought the rights to use a certain stock image or footage from any of those stock image website, other interested parties are able to purchase that same footage or image, and are free to use them however they like.

The reading explains the simplicity of hyperlinks and the theory behind hypermedia, which I think it is worth exploring in Assessment 2, and I will uncover over the next couple of blog posts. Basically unpacking the “interactive” side of new media, and seeing what my group mate and I can do with open interactivity and closed interactivity as demonstrated in the reading.