1. The definition of a term, Archaeology - Archaeology is the study of the societies and people of the past by examining the remains of their buildings, tools, and other objects(Collins Dictionary).
2. About the Middle Ages.
Around 17c and 18c, a lot of things changed. Among them, the most fundamental thing was that the way of thinking was changed from God or world-centered way of thinking into people-centered one. When people thought about beauty, for example, they used to think about the absolute ratio of humans body. However, during the period, people started to change and thought that beauty is relative.
Moreover, before the period, art was only for the high-class people. In fact, just a few of people saw and enjoyed it. However, after the period, people tried to spread it out by educating those people who didn't know well.
Furthermore, rhetoric, which means the skill or Art of using language effectively, was the most important way to spread out the knowledge in the middle ages. At that time, people didn't believe words, so they only talked and speeched what they had or knew. As a result, people were able to have a spatialized memory.
3. The relationship between the middle ages and the new media
The media was not that popular just some years ago. Only rich people had TV, so it was natural that the separation between just few of the rich and the majority of not-rich people. As technologies have developed, the media became popular, and now we call them mass media. Besides, as Moody said, there is a similarity between the rhetoric and a RPG game: they both tell us a story. Also, a lot of RPG games are trying to use the ages as the background because the ages were belonging to only few of selected people.
The process and phenomena of media are the same with the middle ages', and I believe the process and phenomena of new media will be the same with them, too. New media will be for the only few people because when new technology comes out, its price must be high. However, I also insist that they will be popular just some times later, and this is what we have to do: make the technology popular and enlighten people.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
1.3.2 Measuring newness on Nov. 1
What dose the word 'new' means?
According to a dictionary, it means something "has been recently created, built, or invented or is in the process of being created, built, or invented." Then, what about to the new media? How can we define whether something belongs to the new media or not? This is the topic today.
First of all, some old media are still existing today. TV, for example, is one of the typical examples of the old media, but it's still being used by a lot of people. However, there's a big difference between TV in old days and these days. Although we also call these days TV as a television, actually it means the digital TV. In the old days, we just watched on TV just following the program schedules. Today, on the other hand, we also watch like that and can watch whatever and whenever we want to do because we use the digital technology on TV.
Moreover, some new media are just invented or being invented. Let's think about the immersive VR. In the old days, there was nothing about it, but only in some movies we were able to see it. However, it's a popular thing recently. It has been used at games or for experiments. Nobody thinks it's impossible now, but actually it looked like that only 10 years ago because there was nothing about it in reality.
To sum up, there are two methods to become new media: first one is that one of old media became the new media such as digital TV, and second way is that something is created for the first time as new media like immersive VR. To be honest, actually there's nothing created as new media suddenly. Someone might suggest a new idea, and after that some people tried to make it real. Finally somebody succeeded to invent it. Therefore, what we have to is to progress little by little, then someday we'll make something new.
According to a dictionary, it means something "has been recently created, built, or invented or is in the process of being created, built, or invented." Then, what about to the new media? How can we define whether something belongs to the new media or not? This is the topic today.
First of all, some old media are still existing today. TV, for example, is one of the typical examples of the old media, but it's still being used by a lot of people. However, there's a big difference between TV in old days and these days. Although we also call these days TV as a television, actually it means the digital TV. In the old days, we just watched on TV just following the program schedules. Today, on the other hand, we also watch like that and can watch whatever and whenever we want to do because we use the digital technology on TV.
Moreover, some new media are just invented or being invented. Let's think about the immersive VR. In the old days, there was nothing about it, but only in some movies we were able to see it. However, it's a popular thing recently. It has been used at games or for experiments. Nobody thinks it's impossible now, but actually it looked like that only 10 years ago because there was nothing about it in reality.
To sum up, there are two methods to become new media: first one is that one of old media became the new media such as digital TV, and second way is that something is created for the first time as new media like immersive VR. To be honest, actually there's nothing created as new media suddenly. Someone might suggest a new idea, and after that some people tried to make it real. Finally somebody succeeded to invent it. Therefore, what we have to is to progress little by little, then someday we'll make something new.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
1.2.7 Cyberspace on Oct. 25.
Have you happened to hear an 'air guitar' or a 'telematic'? The former means singers' motions or actions which they pretend to play a guitar when they sing. In fact, there is a connection between a real guitar and the air one: synchronization. Although they're not playing the real guitar, they look like playing because they synchronize what the guitarists are doing. Moreover, the telematic refers a moving to somewhere at once when you want to go. Actually we believe it's not real; we just see that in SF movies. Today, however, we can move from a website to another one just by clicking a mouse button. It doesn't mean physically, but conceptually it makes sense.
We can categorize VR into an immersive VR and on-line network. The immersive VR is what we generally think as VR: we can sense physically, it's a site-specific enclosure, and it's based on our experiences. As we've seen in some movies, we can experience another world which is not existing, by using 3d glasses, gloves, ETC. On the other hand, the on-line network means a new world which is created by connections between people. On-line messengers are the typical examples of the on-line network. Some people say the on-line world is as same as the real world. It's possible, but there're some differences: we meet people in different ways.
The fundamental thing is that we can be satisfied with the real world because we're not the god, so sometimes we have to acknowledge we're not that strong or not enough to be what we want to be. This is why we pursue the virtual world.
We can categorize VR into an immersive VR and on-line network. The immersive VR is what we generally think as VR: we can sense physically, it's a site-specific enclosure, and it's based on our experiences. As we've seen in some movies, we can experience another world which is not existing, by using 3d glasses, gloves, ETC. On the other hand, the on-line network means a new world which is created by connections between people. On-line messengers are the typical examples of the on-line network. Some people say the on-line world is as same as the real world. It's possible, but there're some differences: we meet people in different ways.
The fundamental thing is that we can be satisfied with the real world because we're not the god, so sometimes we have to acknowledge we're not that strong or not enough to be what we want to be. This is why we pursue the virtual world.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
1.2.3 Hypertext on Oct. 9
ABOVE
HYPER ex) hypertext
----------
HYPO ex) hypothesis
BELOW
Today, I'm going to talk about hypertext.
According to Wikipedia.com, Hypertext "most often refers to text on a computer that will lead the user to other, related information on demand. Hypertext represents a relatively recent innovation to user interfaces, which overcomes some of the limitations of written text. Rather than remaining static like traditional text, hypertext makes possible a dynamic organization of information through links and connections (called hyperlinks). Hypertext can be designed to perform various tasks; for instance when a user "clicks" on it or "hovers" over it, a bubble with a word definition may appear, or a web page on a related subject may load, or a video clip may run, or an application may open."
These days, when we use the Internet, hypertext is one of the most popular functions. The difference between hypertext and just text is that we can access whenever or wherever we are. For example, if you read a book, then usually you read from the beginning to the end. In contrast, when you read a text on the net which includes hypertext, it will not be sequential because you can access randomly although information is provided sequentially.
Let's move on to hypertext scholarship.
Have ever heard of Dadaism? It means ignoring traditional idea of arts or against traditional things. One example of the Dadaism is to believe that there's not only one author because no one can write a book with only his/her ideas. This aspect is similar to hypertext. There's not one author, as well. One of the characteristics is that we can access to the others. In other words, we can visit a web site which is provided by the author by using hypertext.
In old days, literature had huge effects on technology. In reverse, however, technology affects not only literature but also everything in our world recently. As a result, some authors overcome the limitation of the typical text and adjust themselves to the new world. This is what we have to do or at least what we try to do now.
HYPER ex) hypertext
----------
HYPO ex) hypothesis
BELOW
Today, I'm going to talk about hypertext.
According to Wikipedia.com, Hypertext "most often refers to text on a computer that will lead the user to other, related information on demand. Hypertext represents a relatively recent innovation to user interfaces, which overcomes some of the limitations of written text. Rather than remaining static like traditional text, hypertext makes possible a dynamic organization of information through links and connections (called hyperlinks). Hypertext can be designed to perform various tasks; for instance when a user "clicks" on it or "hovers" over it, a bubble with a word definition may appear, or a web page on a related subject may load, or a video clip may run, or an application may open."
These days, when we use the Internet, hypertext is one of the most popular functions. The difference between hypertext and just text is that we can access whenever or wherever we are. For example, if you read a book, then usually you read from the beginning to the end. In contrast, when you read a text on the net which includes hypertext, it will not be sequential because you can access randomly although information is provided sequentially.
Let's move on to hypertext scholarship.
Have ever heard of Dadaism? It means ignoring traditional idea of arts or against traditional things. One example of the Dadaism is to believe that there's not only one author because no one can write a book with only his/her ideas. This aspect is similar to hypertext. There's not one author, as well. One of the characteristics is that we can access to the others. In other words, we can visit a web site which is provided by the author by using hypertext.
In old days, literature had huge effects on technology. In reverse, however, technology affects not only literature but also everything in our world recently. As a result, some authors overcome the limitation of the typical text and adjust themselves to the new world. This is what we have to do or at least what we try to do now.
Monday, November 19, 2007
1.2.2 Interactivity on Oct. 4th, 2007.
1.2.2 Interactivity
Actually interactivity is not a quite new idea because it's been existing in our lives, but it's changing.
First of all, we have to find out the difference between 'feedback' and 'interactivity.' According to a dictionary, the definition of 'feedback'is something that someone tells you how well or badly you're doing, and how you could improve. This isn't wrong, but we usually use this term here little bit differently. It means just letting users know what it is. It's quite simple. For instance, when I click on something on the operation system like windows XP, it makes me know it's clicked by making a sound such as a bell sound.
According to a dictionary, on the other hand, interactivity means "a system or program which allows direct communication between the user and the machine." In fact, it gives us something more than the feedback gives. For example, when we click on a button, it gives us a sound that just makes us know that we clicked on it. This is a feedback. In contrast, when we click on a button in a interactive system, the system can calculate the speed of moving and clicking, so it can tell us how hurry we are or what situation we are in. Therefore, it makes us know not that what we've done to the system but also something more than this such as the above example.
There are two kinds of views toward the interactivity. First one is an instrumental view. One of the examples is thinking about how we can useTV as well as PC. Secondly, an ideological view is about what's existing beyond something. For instance, if we've bought something at a store, empoyees at the store would send some catalogs about products which are relative to what we've bought before. In other words, they provide different information to different people.
ideological view
Actually interactivity is not a quite new idea because it's been existing in our lives, but it's changing.
First of all, we have to find out the difference between 'feedback' and 'interactivity.' According to a dictionary, the definition of 'feedback'is something that someone tells you how well or badly you're doing, and how you could improve. This isn't wrong, but we usually use this term here little bit differently. It means just letting users know what it is. It's quite simple. For instance, when I click on something on the operation system like windows XP, it makes me know it's clicked by making a sound such as a bell sound.
According to a dictionary, on the other hand, interactivity means "a system or program which allows direct communication between the user and the machine." In fact, it gives us something more than the feedback gives. For example, when we click on a button, it gives us a sound that just makes us know that we clicked on it. This is a feedback. In contrast, when we click on a button in a interactive system, the system can calculate the speed of moving and clicking, so it can tell us how hurry we are or what situation we are in. Therefore, it makes us know not that what we've done to the system but also something more than this such as the above example.
There are two kinds of views toward the interactivity. First one is an instrumental view. One of the examples is thinking about how we can useTV as well as PC. Secondly, an ideological view is about what's existing beyond something. For instance, if we've bought something at a store, empoyees at the store would send some catalogs about products which are relative to what we've bought before. In other words, they provide different information to different people.
ideological view
Monday, October 15, 2007
1.1.5 Distingushing between kinds of new media on Oct. 2, 2007.
First of all, the author says that it's also very significant to take a look at the beyond of the abstraction because we need to "regain and use the term in its plural sense;" technological developments and changing ratios between the old and the new.
New media means:
1. New textual experiences
- such as hypertexts on the internet.
2. New ways of representing the world
- ex) immersive virtual environments, screed-based interactive mulimedia.
3. New relationships between subjects and media technologies
- one way in the old days -> two ways(interactivity)
4. New experiences of the relationship between embodiment, identity and community
5. New conceptions of the biological body's relationship to technological media
6. New patterns of organization and production
Moreover, we're facing a "whole array of rapidly developing fields of technologically mediated production" such as computer-mediated communications, new ways of distributing and consuming, virtual reality, and a whole range of transformations and dislocations of established media.
To sum up, it's not easy for us to separate the old and new media because we already got used to these lives based on the new media without defining it as the new media. However, when we take a look at it little bit more closely, we can distinguish between these two things easily.
New media means:
1. New textual experiences
- such as hypertexts on the internet.
2. New ways of representing the world
- ex) immersive virtual environments, screed-based interactive mulimedia.
3. New relationships between subjects and media technologies
- one way in the old days -> two ways(interactivity)
4. New experiences of the relationship between embodiment, identity and community
5. New conceptions of the biological body's relationship to technological media
6. New patterns of organization and production
Moreover, we're facing a "whole array of rapidly developing fields of technologically mediated production" such as computer-mediated communications, new ways of distributing and consuming, virtual reality, and a whole range of transformations and dislocations of established media.
To sum up, it's not easy for us to separate the old and new media because we already got used to these lives based on the new media without defining it as the new media. However, when we take a look at it little bit more closely, we can distinguish between these two things easily.
Friday, October 5, 2007
1.1.4 Non-technical and inclusive on Sep. 27, 2007
Thesedays, the term 'digital' means little bit... negative, not positive such as simple or out-of-dated. However, we need to look at what 'digital' means or is here.
Digitazing means a process of represent analog signals in 2-digit numbers, 0 and 1. Because of technological limitations or regulation like a capacity of hard disks, there should be some losses of information when the analog signals are transfered into digitals.
Now, let's look at one of the new media's characteristics, inclusiveness.
When we talk about the old media, an image is a visionary thing; in other words, it's physical, stable and stational. An image of new media, however, is totally different from the new one. We call it's sensory; I mean it's inclusive. It could be kind of a thought, idea or something in mind.
Some scholars divided media into two things; pure and inter media. The former one is based on the visionary image. Also, it's just followed by socciety. For example, arts were existing only for high-class people in the old days becuase they were the only people who bought and enjoyed under the situation of that era.
In contrast, as time passed, people tried to break their own thoughts from the pure media. They started to make their own artistic products without being influenced by society. Finally, 'new media' has come up and includes these two kinds of media.
To sum up, 'new media' is a kind of terms which explain a current phenomenon, not a technical or cutural term. It includes everything about this world such as cutures, technics, relations, and so forth. Therefore, it can't be impossible to define the term as a one word. However, we know that we live in this world, and we call it 'new media' world becuase everything around us has changed and developed a lot. Maybe we'll call the next world after the 'new media' world as a super new media world.
Digitazing means a process of represent analog signals in 2-digit numbers, 0 and 1. Because of technological limitations or regulation like a capacity of hard disks, there should be some losses of information when the analog signals are transfered into digitals.
Now, let's look at one of the new media's characteristics, inclusiveness.
When we talk about the old media, an image is a visionary thing; in other words, it's physical, stable and stational. An image of new media, however, is totally different from the new one. We call it's sensory; I mean it's inclusive. It could be kind of a thought, idea or something in mind.
Some scholars divided media into two things; pure and inter media. The former one is based on the visionary image. Also, it's just followed by socciety. For example, arts were existing only for high-class people in the old days becuase they were the only people who bought and enjoyed under the situation of that era.
In contrast, as time passed, people tried to break their own thoughts from the pure media. They started to make their own artistic products without being influenced by society. Finally, 'new media' has come up and includes these two kinds of media.
To sum up, 'new media' is a kind of terms which explain a current phenomenon, not a technical or cutural term. It includes everything about this world such as cutures, technics, relations, and so forth. Therefore, it can't be impossible to define the term as a one word. However, we know that we live in this world, and we call it 'new media' world becuase everything around us has changed and developed a lot. Maybe we'll call the next world after the 'new media' world as a super new media world.
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