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I received a couple of requests to say something [br]about ‘new media’.

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There is of course a lot to say about this,

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but for now I want to limit myself to a quick [br]discussion on new media theory.

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Before we continue, could you think about some [br]old media?

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Just note the first ones that pop up in your mind.

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And now, some new media. I asked this [br]question in many classrooms.

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And usually my students mention mobile phones, [br]the internet, tablets or blu-ray discs

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as new media.

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Old media that are mentioned [br]are the newspaper, books, television and radio.

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Take a few seconds to think about why you [br]consider this medium old and the other new.

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What is the definition of a new medium?

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While you are thinking about this, I want to [br]share with you the following,

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typical quote, from a scholar:

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“[The new medium] will create forgetfulness in [br]the learners' souls,

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because they will not use their memories (…).

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[Learners] will be hearers of many things and [br]will have learned nothing;

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they will appear to be omniscient and will [br]generally know nothing;

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they will be tiresome company, having the show [br]of wisdom without the reality.”

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What medium do you think this critical scholar [br]had in mind? The internet?

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You often hear people say things like this about [br]the internet.

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But this quote is actually about the written word [br]by the famous philosopher Plato.

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Plato wrote these critical notions on the written [br]word around 360 Before Christ.

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There are many historical quotes very similar to [br]this one referring to other media

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that were new at one time in history,

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like the first printed books in the Late Middle [br]Ages,

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the new phenomenon of the popular newspaper [br]press in the nineteenth century,

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radio in the early and television in the late [br]twentieth century.

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The point I’m trying to make is this:

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It’s important to realize that all media were new [br]at one time or another.

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Because it’s easy to fall into the trap of only [br]seeing our current new media,

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internet, mobile media and such, as new.

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This trap has led some scholars to come up [br]with very specific definitions of new media,

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claiming that new media are always interactive, [br]promote user participation, et cetera.

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But is this useful?

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Basically what we are seeing here is new media [br]theory built around specific

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and only current examples,

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like the internet or mobile media. These types of [br]theories explain what’s happening right now,

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but you can’t really use them to explain the [br]phenomenon of new media in general.

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These theories, built around the new media of [br]today,

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hardly fit the situation where the written word [br]was introduced

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or the book printing revolution changed the face [br]of Europe.

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Also, in designing theories to fit current [br]examples lies another danger,

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because it’s very probable that these theories [br]become outdated as soon

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as a new new medium arises.

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Therefore, many scholars argue against the [br]practice of creating new media theories

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to fit current examples.

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The influential Marshall McLuhan gave a great [br]example when he proposed his own theories on [br]new media,

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not by dwelling on modern-day examples, but [br]by skipping back and forth through time,

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showing in fact that his theories apply in all of [br]these historical and modern situations.

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One of his main observations was in fact that all [br]of these media revolutions throughout history

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were always caused by a new technology.

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This perspective is called technology [br]determinism,

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because important shifts in human development [br]are, in the end,

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attributed to innovations in technology. The [br]printing revolution was made possible by

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Gutenberg’s innovation of the printing press.

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The internet was made possible because [br]computer networks were developed. Et cetera.

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Another important conclusion of McLuhan was [br]that all of these shifts in the media landscapes

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had huge effects in society:

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The printing revolution led to the Renaissance [br]and Enlightenment.

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The rise of the internet has heralded a modern [br]digital information age.

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Other scholars have followed in the footsteps of [br]McLuhan,

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even though they don’t always agree with his [br]views,

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they too strive to formulate theories and [br]definitions on New Media

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that capture the entirety of the new media [br]phenomenon, and not only current examples.