Manovich made a good point mentioning the new media lingo, transcode. He defines it as “translating something into another format”. In this digital age, the evolution of softwares far exceed the speed of the physical devices and design is starting to become an issue. A perfect example are Mobile Phones. I recently saw a documentary about industrial design and it mentioned phones where each used to have a unique shape back in the beginning and when one purchased a new phone, it would be for the aesthetics. Today, phones are as good as the software they come with. Take a look at the picture below for a good example.
So, how does this relate to the title, Transcoding? For the software to be updated, there usually are various codes rewritten and sometimes formats are changed as well. The adaptability is important for communication; especially between different operating softwares. For example, a AAC audio format might work perfectly on an iphone, but for better compatibility, it would be converted to mp3 to be played on an Android phone.
This is interesting, Tenszin. It answers the question of why it is that smart phones all look more or less the same. I’m not sure though how the change in design connects to Manovich’s notion of transcoding. I think you have something when you talk about file conversion at the end but I’d love to see develop that connection more thoroughly.
I have had a phone for 1 year and a few months, and now it is beginning to show some issues with running software on the internet. I know that this is due to the upgrading of websites, servers, computer programs and capabilities, but this makes for an annoying experience. I do not use a phone as much as most people, never in class, so I don’t feel the need to upgrade. I only gave in due to an emergency. Frankly, I want to go back to the days of no cell phones. Life was much simpler in the “Old Days.” Yet, I am feeling some need to upgrade. This is more due to the technical advancements of the smartphone, like real-time market updates, capabilities for reaching market brokers, etc. All this compatibility between AAC format and conversion to MP3 tells me that it costs more to live in the ‘advanced’ Information Age.