COM3704 - Notes (Summary)

New Media Technology COM 3704 2 Part 1: Beginnings: Creating Context Chapter 1 – New Media: Theories and applications Chapter 2 – Forms of new media 3 Chapter 1: New Media: Theories and applications Brief history of communications media 1. 1837 – electronic telegraph, used variable-length binary code utilising a dot and a dash as the two symbols represent by short and long electronic pulses. 2. 1875, fixed-length binary code consisting of 5 equal-length elements comprising a mark or a space (1 or 0); facilitated the use of type writers, and real-time transmission of speech was first achieved in 1875. 3. 1847 – first practical telephone was invented. 4. 1877 and 1890 – development of carbon microphone. 5. 1897 – automatic switch to replace manually operated switchboards. 6. 1913 – electronic amplification using vacuum tubes made transcontinental telephony possible. 7. 1948 – invention of transistor resulted in improved reliability, increased capacity and lower costs. 8. 1960 – first commercial telephone using digital switching was installed. 9. 1970 – first ratio telephone system or cellular system was introduced in japan in late 1970s. Brief history of telephony in South Africa 1. 1878 – first telephone in the Cape, 1882 in PE, 1894 in DRB and PMB. 2. 1911 – Post office administration and shipping act combinations discouragement Act. 3. 1922 – first automatic exchange in Waterkloof 4. 1947- Cable and wireless workers transfer act 5. 1958 – post office act consolidates post office monopoly over telephony 6. 1991 – Telkom splits off from SA Post Office. Second communications revolution  Introduction of computers – document typing and storage, file transfer and computer-to-computer communications.  Revolution in microelectronics – flat-screen televisions with better definition, digital mobile phones with advance applications, memory sticks and flash drives with more storage capacity. Forms of telecommunications such as the radio, telephone (mobile and landline), television and data networks (computing).  Dawn of the information society - Broadband, “fastest Internet ever”. Potential to revolutionise business, improve economic development, increase productivity and help establish an information society and attract foreign investment. 4  Advent of new media network, which supports flexibility, efficiency and productivity of organisations, to improve all kinds of logistic processes. A brief history of the Internet  In the early days the internet was used by computer experts, engineers, scientists and librarians for interacting and collaborating via e-mail.  In 1970s – 1980s academic and research community started taking an interest in the internet.  In 1980s computer enthusiasts discovered the internet could be used not only for research and academic purposes.  In 1990s the rest of the world started taking notice of the internet and since then it has grown phenomenally.  29 October 2009 the internet celebrated its 40th birthday. 1. NEW MEDIA  The term media = derived from the Latin word meaning “middle” and this signifies that “the media are in the middle of a communication process, specifically, in between the sender and the receiver of a message.  It links to information communication technologies (ICTs) – have various uses with emphasis on advanced technological features.  New media – digital in nature and often employed by communicators or media institutions to communicate to audiences via interactive means such as internet usage. But the difference with the new media is that it blurs the distinction between individual and mass audiences, as people use the medium for individual communication (e-mail), small group communication (listservs) and mass communication (web sites).  Been described as an integration of communication and technology in industrial production and information spreading fields = new media = newness with what has been recently developed. E.g., TV is new medium compared to newspapers, but Internet is a better example of new media than TV as it is more recently developed. It is networked, interactive, enables two-way communications.  Internet – brings more of the world into the home than the TV ever has.  New media are global – affect everyone in society where they are employed.  ICT – used in banks, educational institutions, law enforcement personnel and agencies, governments, hospitals, health intuitions, military, used for recording, storing, sharing, monitoring vital information.  New media also includes social media.