Tag Archives: Manovich

The Language of New Media

summary:

The article tries to establish and explain what new media is and how it differs from old media.  According to Manovich, new media is any media that is distributed and displayed using a computer.  This includes, but is not limited to, DVD, online articles, photographs, and books.  Manovich suggests that there are five main principles of new media; numerical representation, modularity, automation, variability, and cultural transcoding.  Along with going into greater detail with the five main principles he also talks about how new media got to where it is, and how it has evolved over the years.

key terms:

Numerical representation – new media objects are all created from digital code which consists of numbers

Modularity – the idea that new media objects have the same modular structure and are all made up of discrete samples such as pixels, polygons, or characters

Automation – numerical representation and modularity allow for the media creation, manipulation and access

Variability – the idea that new media is not fixed but can actually exist in different versions

Transcoding – translate something into another format

old media/new media:

After reading Manovich’s article it seems to me that without old media new media would have never made it’s way.  According to the five principles; numerical representation, modularity, automation, variability, and transcoding old media develops into new media.  These five principles seem to relate to the way that new media can be created from old media.

other information:

While I was working with the material I came across the YouTube video below which explains Manovich’s five principles in lamer terms.