My New Media Class – So Far

What kinds of technologies are part of the new media?

New media encompasses a variety of websites and web applications that can be utilized via computers and mobile phones.

People use computers to consume and contribute to a myriad of new media, ranging from social networking websites, blogs, wikis, and sites that rely on user-generated content (ie: Youtube, Flickr, etc). More recently, people have used computer technology to watch television content online. Laura M. Holson discusses this phenomenon in the New York Times article, Who Needs a TV? I’m Watching on a Laptop. As Holson describes, “So many online “Gossip Girl” fans showed up to watch last season’s shows, they threatened to crash cwtv.com.”

Great progress has also been made in mobile technology. Two years ago, Yahoo launched a mobile application called OneSearch, which “relies on speech recognition software to interpret your verbal request, and then pumps the answer to your phone's screen in the form of a Web link to the answer.” (Pogue, Yahoo’s Answer to Speech Recognition for Your Cellphone) The company has also made instant messaging, mapping, checking email, and much more available for its mobile applications.

How important is the Internet to the new media?

The Internet remains an essential tool in facilitating the consumption of new media, because much of new media involves websites, which require Internet connection to access. However, the Internet is not required in the use of podcasts, which “sends audio content [that you subscribe to] directly to an iPod or other MP3 player,” according to Daniel Terdiman's New Twist on Net Audio.

Why and how are the new media replacing and/or enhancing the old media?

New media hasn’t reached the point where it’s replacing old media in its entirety. This is certainly applicable to the television! As Holson notes in her article, the time delay for online television content is a deal breaker for fans, who would much rather watch shows on their original air date.