Media is simply the space through which information passes. As information technology has created new ways for people to communicate and pass on information, "new media" have appeared; new spaces which will shape the messages that are passed on.

One definition of New Media is ‘where technology meets communication.’

Another is ‘digital media.’

Yet another is ‘interactive media.’

All point towards the world of information technology and the ability for many-to-many communication; for the audience to be able to speak back to the producers or broadcasters, and enter into a dialogue or conversation.

My own generation may have memories of casting a critical eye over pictures sent into "The Gallery" in Tony Hart’s Hartbeat (now in an online form!), or remember the Saturday morning television TV jingles to encourage viewers to phone in to ask guests questions, play games and enter competitions (at a time when they were simply London numbers, rather than premium-rate lines.) So, is the new idea of "interactive media" fundamentally different to television show’s competitions, phone-ins and Points of View’s letters?

Well, yes.

The nature of TV, newspapers, magazines, cinema and "traditional media" in general is that it’s all built around the idea of sending a message out to the public/audience/consumers. Sure, amember of the audience can speak on the phone, or have their drawings shown to the country, but you can’t get a situation where every member of the TV audience can see their own content.

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November 2nd, 2007 | Other Media, The Internet, WWW, Web Content | 1 comment

In 1961, Arthur C. Clarke said that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

In an age where devices with 160Gb and a colour screen can fit into the front pocket of a shirt and be taken in people’s stride as regular a day to day device, wireless internet connections are (to me) the area of technology where magic still exits. The fact that on the latest iPods, I can watch videos on a screen which takes up more of my field of vision than my TV but is thin enough to fit into a suit pocket without spoiling the lines impresses me- but it’s when I’m near an internet hotspot and I can instantly watch one of hundreds of thousands of YouTube videos that I’m still amazed; especially when considering that just 5 years ago, broadband internet penetration in the UK was at just 7%, and the restricted bandwidth meant that the idea of just streaming audio was difficult to take seriously- let alone streaming video.
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October 22nd, 2007 | Devices and User Interfaces, Mobile Web, Other Media, The Internet, WWW, Web Content | No comments