Wk 1 Q1: What is New Media

I’m running a great risk in not choosing any of the traditional forms of new media (how can something new be traditional?) in my response to the question but I figured that with 36 of us in class, chances of an overlap are pretty high.

So I decided that I would talk a little more about search engines (more specifically, Google) as a form of new media. And here’s a breakdown of Google’s vital stats according to Manovich’s principles:

numerical representation: well, I’m not much of a programmer myself, but I guess being able to be published on the internet, Google has to be represented numerically in some way.

modularity: if you look at the structure of the search frame, you will see different modules assembled to form Google’s interface. There is, of course, the multi-coloured logo, the search entry box and various hyperlinks to other members of the Google empire like Google Video, Froogle, as well as the buttons that let you choose whether you want to do a Google Search or to proclaim I’m Feeling Lucky (just a thought here: maybe they should just randomly generate a 4D number when you next click on that button. That’d probably help Google break into the uncles and aunties market in Singapore and get them instantly interested in the Internet à translates into more computer sales too à that means more jobs à maybe it can become a new growth point for $ingapore). Google has since gone on to create personalized home pages for individuals by allowing you to select content that you want to view (my favourites are Bushisms and Sudoku). These are highly flexible modules that you can add and remove on demand and it even allows you to arrange these modules in any way that you like!

automation: ok, this example is quite similar to the one in Manovich’s book but then again, noboday said nothing about copying his examples. Well, Google is automated in that it can generate a web page displaying the links to your hits in a hierarchical order that is ranked according to the closeness of the hit to your search item. Furthermore, Google can also check the seplling of your search items and goes on to suggest a corrected version of your search

variability: now, variability is really one thing that Google is big about. Firstly, when you receive your list of hits, you can choose to view it in its original form, or you can view it in its cached form (where your search keywords are highlighted on the webpage itself). And apart from searching web pages, Google also searches for pdfs, ppts, docs and even image files for you, moving one step away from traditional search engines. The best thing is that with the pdfs, ppts, docs, you can have the choice of viewing them in html formatif you don’t feel like downloading the files (who knows if they are infected by deadly viruses that’s gonna cause your computer to spontaneously combust? Wait, only batteries are capable of that right? Oh well, whatever, just be carefulw aht you do with your computer, it’s not as safe as it seems). Just let me add one more point about Google’s variability can? Can someonehow tell me how many ways a Google search bar be accessed on your comp? Well, Mozilla has an in-built Google toolbar, you can also download the Google Desktop, or you can go to nus.edu.sg and click on the toolbar on top, or you can just type google.com on your browser, or you can access within Gmail. Well, that’s at least 5 ways. Talk about variability. I’m tempted to talk about the thousand and one other G-applications that Google has so graciously provided (I think they are trying to take over the world, so buyer beware!!) but think I’ll leave that for a next posting.

transcoding: now, this is the principle that I had a hard time understanding. Even googling it didn’t help much. On one level, I feel very tempted to say that the fact that a name for a web page managed to find its way into being an adjective that we have come to accept as appropriate in everyday language i.e. “Cannot find is it? Go google it lah” would be the epitome of transcoding but I’m afraid that the definition does not hold water. So I will supplement it by pointing to the fact that when you “what is 42km in inches?” in the search bar and Google can tell you that “42 kilometers = 1 653 543.31 inches”, it shows how our human form of communications has been seamlessly integrated with the computational prowess of the digital machine. (back to the point about variability: Google is not just a search engine, it is a calculator and a dictionary too!!!)
One thing about search engines though, is that there is no underlying message or propagation of ideas common of other forms of new media like blogs, podcasts, vodcasts (what exactly is the difference between a podcast and a vodcast anyway?) IM-ing. So does new media have to communicate certain ideas to the people that view it? Or is being solely a service provider enough to suffice? Well, according to Manovich’s framework, it seems suitably qualified, but who’s there to say that Manovich is right anyway?

In a tribute to how Google has revolutionarized the way we use the Internet, I have also created a little digital art that in itself, also epitomizes Manovich’s principles of new media. In my bid to make this blog interactive, I will leave it to you, my good reader to figure out how to apply the principles ;)

To view the graphic, please click here.

Still image to help.

w.r.t. how it relates to narrative and play in interactive media, these principles will probably act as guidelines and points to consider when designing interactive media. Of course, this is made under the assumption that the interactive media that we are talking about is equated with new media (b/c there can be other forms of interactive media that do not fall into the category of new media).