New Media: A Critical Introduction / Edition 2

by Martin Lister, Jon Dovey, Kieran Kelly, Iain Grant, Seth Giddings

Overview

New Media: A Critical Introduction is a comprehensive introduction to the culture, history, technologies and theories of new media. Written especially for students, the book considers the ways in which 'new media' really are new, assesses the claims that a media and technological revolution has taken place and formulates new ways for media studies to respond to new technologies.

The authors introduce a wide variety of topics including: how to define the characteristics of new media; social and political uses of new media and new communications; new media technologies, politics and globalization; everyday life and new media; theories of interactivity, simulation, the new media economy; cybernetics, cyberculture, the history of automata and artificial life.

Substantially updated from the first edition to cover recent theoretical developments, approaches and significant technological developments, this is the best and by far the most comprehensive textbook available on this exciting and expanding subject.

At www.newmediaintro.com you will find:

• additional international case studies with online references
• specially created You Tube videos on machines and digital photography
• a new ‘Virtual Camera’ case study, with links to short film examples
• useful links to related websites, resources and research sites
• further online reading links to specific arguments or discussion topics in the book
• links to key scholars in the field of new media.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415431613
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/12/2008
Edition description:	REV
Pages:	464
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.60(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Jon Dovey, Seth Giddings, Kieran Kelly and Martin Lister are members of the Department of Culture, Media and Drama, in the Faculty of Creative Arts and Iain Grant is Head of Field in Philosophy, in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, all at the University of the West of England, Bristol

Table of Contents

List of illustrations vii

List of case studies x

Authors' biographies xi

Preface to the second edition xiii

Introduction 1

The book's purpose 1

Our approach to the subject 1

The book's historical dimension 4

The book's emphasis on wider questions of culture and technology 4

The book's organisation 4

How to use the book 5

The book's parts 5

1 New Media and New Technologies 9

1.1 New media: do we know what they are? 9

1.2 The characteristics of new media: some defining concepts 13

1.3 Change and continuity 44

1.4 What kind of history? 51

1.5 Who was dissatisfied with old media? 77

1.6 New media: determining or determined? 77

Bibliography 99

2 New Media and Visual Culture 105

2.1 What happened to Virtual Reality (VR)? 105

2.2 The virtual and visual culture 109

2.3 The digital virtual 112

2.4 Immersion: a history 114

2.5 Perspective, camera, software 124

2.6 Virtual images/images of the virtual 124

2.7 Digital cinema 132

Bibliography 158

3 Networks, Users and Economics 163

3.1 Introduction 163

3.2 What is the Internet? 164

3.3 Historicising net studies 165

3.4 Economics and networked media culture 169

3.5 Political economy 173

3.6 The social form of new media 176

3.7 Limits on commercial influence 178

3.8 Globalisation, neo-liberalism and the Internet 179

3.9 The digital divide 181

3.10 Boom and bust in the information economy 187

3.11 Intellectual property rights, determined and determining 189

3.12 Music as new media 191

3.13 The Long Tail 197

3.14 Going viral 200

3.15 Fragmentation and convergence 202

3.16 Wiki worlds and Web 2.0 204

3.17 Identities and communities online 209

3.18 Being anonymous 209

3.19 Belonging 213

3.20 Living in the interface 216

3.21 The Internet and the public sphere 218

3.22 User-generated content: we are all fans now 221

3.23 YouTube and post television 225

3.24 Conclusion 231

Bibliography 232

4 New Media in Everyday Life 237

4.1 Everyday life in cyberspace 237

4.2 Everyday life in a media home 243

4.3 The technological shaping of everyday life 254

4.4 The everyday posthuman: new media and identity 266

4.5 Gameplay 286

4.6 Conclusion: everyday cyberculture 307

Bibliography 307

5 Cyberculture: Technology, Nature and Culture 317

5.1 Cyberculture and cybernetics 319

5.2 Revisiting determinism: physicalism, humanism and technology 328

5.3 Biological technologies: the history of automata 343

5.4 Theories of cyberculture 381

Bibliography 413

Glossary 418

Index 431

Editorial Reviews

'This second edition of New Media: A Critical Introduction builds on the strengths of the first edition to improve and update one of the best textbooks in the field. The authors have provided a wealth of new material, resulting in a very detailed and illuminating overview of many important new trends emerging from the intersections of culture and technology.' - Jamie Sexton, Aberystwyth University, UK

'Far more than simply an upgrade or update, this second edition continues its predecessor’s finely-honed critical engagement with the most significant current debates about the new media, both within and outside academia. This should be required reading for anyone interested in this all-important, but much-mythologised, subject.' – Julian Petley, Brunel University, UK

'I think there is little doubt that this is an important book... Because of their different backgrounds, the authors are able to provide a wealth of examples, quotes, references etc. which help to make the book a veritable treasure trove of materials.' – PoV

'Firstly, the book does very well what it defines as its purpose - to introduce, critically, its area of concern. To this end it is certainly comprehensive. Very little is left uncovered in the careful negotiation of the issue of what we mean by 'new'. Secondly, it takes its subject matter very seriously and manages to offer readers a clear engaging journey through such areas as 'economics and networked media culture' and 'the technological shaping of everyday life'... Thirdly, it strikes the right balance between detail and moving on so a lot is covered but there is enough depth for students to get enough from this as a 'core text' without needing to endlessly chase references to get to the heart of each area... This second edition certainly addresses these challenges head on with critical precision and balance.' – The Higher Education Academy

'This second edition of New Media: A Critical Introduction builds on the strengths of the first edition to improve and update one of the best textbooks in the field. The authors have provided a wealth of new material, resulting in a very detailed and illuminating overview of many important new trends emerging from the intersections of culture and technology.' – Jamie Sexton, Aberystwyth University, UK

'Far more than simply an upgrade or update, this second edition continues its predecessor’s finely-honed critical engagement with the most significant current debates about the new media, both within and outside academia. This should be required reading for anyone interested in this all-important, but much-mythologised, subject.' – Julian Petley, Brunel University, UK

'I think there is little doubt that this is an important book... Because of their different backgrounds, the authors are able to provide a wealth of examples, quotes, references etc. which help to make the book a veritable treasure trove of materials.' – PoV

'Firstly, the book does very well what it defines as its purpose - to introduce, critically, its area of concern. To this end it is certainly comprehensive. Very little is left uncovered in the careful negotiation of the issue of what we mean by 'new'. Secondly, it takes its subject matter very seriously and manages to offer readers a clear engaging journey through such areas as 'economics and networked media culture' and 'the technological shaping of everyday life'... Thirdly, it strikes the right balance between detail and moving on so a lot is covered but there is enough depth for students to get enough from this as a 'core text' without needing to endlessly chase references to get to the heart of each area... This second edition certainly addresses these challenges head on with critical precision and balance.' – The Higher Education Academy

From the Publisher