I found this weeks reading helpful pointing out the introductions of new media. I’ll admit, when I hear the term new media specific things pop into mind (web based news, mobile apps, etc.). These thoughts seem completely separate from the existing mediums, hints the name. There is also an implication that previous mediums disappear. Both false. In fact, I think the whole title of new media can be misleading. Maybe we should describe the creation of new platforms with words like “transitional, “evolutionary,” or “hybrid?” With that being said, we still use “new,” so we’ll leave it at that.
To quote the author about this very idea: “…to focus exclusively on competition or tension between media systems may impair our recognition of significant hybrid or collaborative forms that often emerge during times of media transition.” The author recognizes that each “new” medium contains significant elements of previous mediums. For example, online news mediums are completely based on everything we know about print media. Without relying on the models set forth in print, who knows what online news would look like. We even use similar terms like “above and below the fold.” For the most part, each new media is rooted in the previous mediums but doesn’t necessarily replace it. The older medium usually adapts to the new and finds a new way to flourish, sometimes even as a novelty. I think it important to understand how a new media is developed and the effects it has on previous mediums.
The final point is the role of business when it comes to developing a new media. I found it interesting, but not surprising, that business plays a prominent role in the formation of new mediums. For example, when comics became popular, newspapers gave the creators strict guidelines to create their strips. The effect? It stifled the creative abilities of the authors. According to the author, the medium is in its’ purest creative state during it’s infancy. Eventually, people seek to capitalize on a new media and it loses it’s ability to adopt original creativity because of “standards.” With our current “new media” I think we have done a nice job of allowing creativity, but it isn’t void of the effects of business. Hopefully, as we continue to move towards internet-based media, we can facilitate an environment open to creativity.