A Brisk Morning Blog

A little bit about me:

My name is Clayton, and I graduated from St. Edward's University in December of 2006 with a degree in English Writing and Rhetoric. I've always liked to read and write, and I hope to one day write a best seller. My favorite genres are science-fiction and fantasy. Ever since I was a kid I've been reading tons and tons of books about space, mystery, and magic. I think I started reading such books because as a kid I got bored easily and these amazing stories allowed me to take a brief trip to far away places and unimaginable worlds, giving me a break from the mundane.
Computers are also of great interest to me, especially the internet. I think it's so amazing how far we have come in terms of technology in just the last 20 years. I can't even imagine how much it will change in the next 20 years. The internet almost appears to be a living organism that grows and evolves with every day. I hope that by taking this class I will learn even more about the working of mass media communication and how it is evolving. It looks to be a fun semester.

My Take on New Media-

To me, new media is a very broad topic, consisting of many forms, that link people together and allow them to communicate with ease. Internet blogging, emails, Facebook/MySpace, podcasting, interacting software, gaming, etc. are all examples of new media to me. All these allow people to interact and talk with each other from all over the world in a way that 20 years ago would have seemed impossible for most people. We have come a long way from the massive old punch card computers to the newly released Macbook Air, the world's thinnest laptop. "In 1833 Charles Babbage started the design for a device he called the Analytical Engine. The Engine contained most of the key features of the modern digital computer. The punch cards
were used to enter both data and instructions." Today, computers contain much more functions, memory, and power, and are a fraction of the size of the first computer.

Manovich's definition of new media is “computer technology used as a distribution platform.” His thoughts parallel my own as he believes new media to be a broad subject as well. Manovich goes into deeper discussion on how commercial uses and advertising online have allowed new media to branch into something bigger. "Commercial culture (in other words,
culture designed for mass audiences) has played a more progressive role in adopting and experimenting with new media," says Manovich. "Without commercial culture we would not have computer games using Artificial Intelligence programming, network-based multimedia, including various Web plug-ins which enable distribution of music, moving images and 3-D environment over the Web, sophisticated 3-D modeling, animation and rendering tools, database-driven Web sites, CD-ROMs, DVD, and other storage formats, and most other advanced new media technologies and forms."

After reviewing the assigned readings I've come to understand that new media has grown even past my original broad view. Web advertising, such as for movies and such has increased dramatically in the last few years, and is sure to continue to do so.