1.2.3 Hypertext on Oct. 9

ABOVE
HYPER ex) hypertext
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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.

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

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.

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.

What are new Media? - Second class out of 2

Today's maxim: "We've gotta be pioneers!"

Definitions we have to know.
- connotation & denotation: Denotation as in poetry is the literal meaning of a word, and connotation is the suggestive meaning of a word.


in the modernism period
- New is good thing.
- People believed that technology helps people although people in 1940 or 50's suspected it because of the atom booms.
- New means cutting-edge, Avant-gardes and the place for forward-thinking people.
- Technology can increase productivity and educational oppurtunity.
- Also, it can open up new creatives and communication horizons.
"Believe it, but also suspect what you believe at the same time!!"

- Ideology: set of idea which can change people.

- Globalization is a westerner's term, not easterner's.
- Moreover, it has a limitation because of the language diferences.

Watching video: 다빈치 project(KBS special)
- Technology + Arts -> demand creativity -> it's leading people to the new world.

Q1. Why are technology(or science) and arts being combined?
- Actaully people have thought that two of them were totally different things. However, as the number of trying to combine these things are increasing, people who are involved in that field have been finding something new which hasn't been ever discovered.

Q2. What's the meaning of 'new' for me?
- 'New' means something which hasn't ever existed, is raising awareness, and has possibility that it will be developed more.

What are new Media? - First class out of 2

What are new media?
The answers could be various.
It is a collective singular noun and used in many fields. Moreover, it seems like bright future and breask history into two: old and new media.

The media as an institution means communication media, institutions and organizations, and the cultural and material product of the institutions.
Therefore, we have to pay attention to more than the point of media production and investigate the wider processes in order to find out what the new media are.

The differences between (old) media and new media are
1. already settled down and not.
2. established media forms and new technological possibilities.

There was a big change in the media from the late 1980s on.
Also, social and cultural changes happened from the 1960s.

New media caused lots of change such as
1. a shift from modernity to post-modernity.
2. intensifying processes of globalization.
3. a replacement of an industrial age by a post-industrial information age.
4. a decentring of established and centralised geo-political orders.

To sum up, the new media is able to be considered as a new technoculture.

Theoretical Background 1: Traditional thoughts on Art

We're focusing on the western art, not eastern art because of the lack of sources.

Art is a visualized accumulation of human activities.
"Art is one of these accumulation."

Art is important becuase
1. it talks about our world.
2. it speaks to emotions: pleasure or feeling.

Internal conception -> external experience -> recognization.

Taste is based on individuals' perception and experiences.

What we have to do is to fight the media which are already existing.