Defining new media:

Digital media that are interactive, incorporate two-way communication & involves some form of computing,
easily processed, stored, transformed, retrieved, hyperlinked and easy to search & access (Robert Logan,
understanding new media)

Numerical all new media is made of ones and zeros digital code. New media is programmable.
Modularity new media is modular text, images, audio, video and interactivity combine together to create
new media they comprise of many components
Automation new medias characteristics is automation many programs such as photoshop depend on
automated scripts that upon clicking execute a series of actions. Example is photoshop content aware
function automatically samples the area around the image to accurately fix the photo
Variability- New media is variable, it is not a fixed static object like a standard html page it is dynamic and
moves along with the flow. An example is dynamic content management systems in wordpress which can
create web pages customized to an individual user, or e-commerce displaying the persons last
transactions, orders and so on.
Transcoding media can be trancoded into different forms. A family photo can be scanned and uploaded
onto the internet to be used as an image, part of a video, or even 3d-printed. Media can be converted into
different forms and formats JPEG, GIF, TIFF or can be photoshopped into a new form.

1. Numerical representation
Because all new media objects are composed of digital code, they are essentially
numerical representations.
key difference between old and new media is that new media is programmable
In new media compositions, the opposition between visual and verbal is bridged
in the sense that both are codeboth image and text are programmed and
programmable.

2. Modularity Pixels, images, text, sounds, frames, codeindependent elements

like these combine to form a new media object. These elements can be
independently modified and reused in other works. In Photoshop, modularity is
most evident in layers; a single image can be composed of many layers, each of
which can be treated as an entirely independent and separate entity
3. Automation
Automation is seen in computer programs that allow users to create or modify
media objects using templates or algorithms. Because of powerful automated
functions built in to the software, human intentionality can be removed from the
creative process, at least in part The creative energy of the author goes into
the selection and sequencing of elements rather than into original design
(130). Authorship or artistry involves selection from pre-existing images, code, or
other elements and a kind of "collaboration" with the software to see what is
possible. Automation is evident in the filters, special effects, and other
operations in Photoshop that allow users to modify images. In Flash, automated

tweening allows users to specify the beginning and end of an animation, and
Flash automatically draws all of the frames in between
4. Variability
Manovich writes, a new media object is not something fixed once and for all, but
something that can exist in different, potentially infinite versions (36). Unlike old
media, new media does not hardwire structure and content together. One
example of variability is found in hypertextual or interactive media that allow
users to take different paths through a text and therefore access different
content. Manovich connects the variability of new media to the logic of
postindustrial society, which values individuality over conformity. New media
objects assure users that their choicesand therefore, their underlying thoughts
and desiresare unique, rather than preprogrammed and shared with others
(42). An important case of the variability principle involves databases from which
a variety of end-user objects . . . can be generated, either beforehand or on
demand (37), as in Web pages generated on the fly and customized to user
preferences.
5. Transcoding
The last and broadest of Manovichs five principles of new media, transcoding is
the most substantial consequence of the computerization of media (45).
Transcoding designates the blend of computer and culture, of "traditional ways in
which human culture modeled the world and the computer's own means of
representing it" (46). Technically, transcoding refers to the translation of a new
media object from one format to another (for example, text to sound) or the
adaptation of new media for display on different devices. Broadly, transcoding
designates the ways in which media and culture are being reshaped and
transformed by the logic of the computer. The computerization of culture is a
process of transcoding, as cultural categories or concepts are substituted, on
the level of meaning and/or language, by new ones that derive from the
computers ontology, epistemology, and pragmatics (47). The image above is
meant to represent the intersection of the culture layer and the computer layer.
It also draws attention to the effect of transcoding on self-representationin
other words, the ways in which the logic of the computer infuses how we think
about and represent ourselves.

New media is a reflection of societal values and societal transformation.

A mix of conventions of existing culture and conventions of software

A developing language of remediation

Digital platform that bridges the gap between professional media producers and casual media engagers

Reliance on computers for distribution

* http://online.seu.edu/what-is-new-media/
* http://www.newmedia.org/what-is-new-media.html
* http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/7.1/reviews/dilger/index.htm

Tim o riely has 7 aspects of digital media:

1) The web as a platform
a. Platform as standard web is platform agnostic, not PC centric or
mac centric. It has become the centre of a users experience and
not the PC. HTML/CSS are platform standards, people upload it to
this platform, thats why it is successful.
2) Harnessing collective intelligence
a. Tagging/folksonomies
b. User generated content (wiki and Youtube)
c. Long tail of small sites
3) Data as the intel inside
a. Use of data to enhance the web browsing experience
b. Google/search engines enable people to sort through databases
through GUI
c. Algorithms in e commerce, etc.
4) Lightweight programming models
5) End of the software release cycle
a. Messenger and Adobe example
b. Consult users as co developers
6) Software above the level of a single device
a. Messenger and Adobe example cross platform compatibility
7) Rich user interface
a. AJAX instead of links, code simple stuff, we have rich media
content.