In the chapter one of the book, I learn that the definitions of new media can be very broad and have never been clear-cut. People might think that the stuffs produced by computer are the new media. For examples, Internet, Web sites, compute multimedia, computer games and etc. But the author, Lev Manvoich, argues that would be too limiting, computer should not be the only way of distribution of media. Therefore, he tries to redefine the definitions of new media. He believes that new media should be based on the five principles, numerical representation, modularity, automation, variability and transcoding. Manvoich’s theory on new media seems to be very solid and compelling due to the great use of the examples like World Wide Web, which we commonly use in our daily lives. At the end, he also compares and contrasts the differences between old media and new media. It really helps me to understand the key differences between them, as well as the effects of new media. For examples, he said that “New Media also allow us to create version of the same object that differ from each other in more substantial way.” I truly agree with him because a new media like web sites have millions or more of different looks or versions. He also explains that “New media is interactive. In contrast to old media where the order of presentation is fixed, the user can now interact with a media object”. Therefore, I believe that the artists of new media have more room, freedom and choices to express their ideas and designs.
