Digital Media
Digital media is one of the many types of media technologies used today. This form of media utilizes digital data rather than analogue waveforms to carry broadcasts over television channels. It is increasingly popular for television, especially satellite television, but it is not catching on so quickly for radio broadcasting. Its usage has been influenced in recent years by the popularity of computers. More and more homes in America have switched from analogue to digital television, especially with the recent transitions made by television stations and supported by the federal government. The intended audience is the general public.
Digital media involves the use of digital applications to create high-tech forms of media that are predominantly used online. These applications include graphic design software and digital video production and editing. Also included are such things as video games, sound editing, and web page design.
One technique used in digital media is digital publishing, which involves using digital publishing tools to create online media presentations to translate more traditional content into digital media. Digital publishing combines elements of graphic design and web page design with a journalistic approach. Its use is becoming very popular, especially because it appeals to the younger generation.
Dreamweaver is one example of a program using technology to create high end, functional web pages. Those pages can involve such digital media elements as graphic design, flash, video and sound content.
Film and Video Technology
Film and video technology is another very popular form of media technology today, especially camcorders. What family does not own a camcorder today? Families in every town use them to record children’s birthdays, graduations, and numerous other special occasions. The term camcorder really comes from the phrase “video camera recorder,” which is an electronic device that combines the video camera and the video recorder into one unit. It is generally a portable device, which allows it to be used by the general public for family occasions. In the 1990’s, use of digital replaced the analogue recording. Now tapes are being replaced by disks and flash memory—sometimes called tapeless recorders.
Obviously another form of film and video technology is simply movies. In the movie industry, there is the recent re-emergence of 3-D type movies, referring to three dimensional rather than just two dimensional films. The 3-D approach is especially popular now with children’s animated films, but Avatar crossed over into the more general population as the intended audience. Avatar, which paved the way for the technology to become an integral part of the cinema experience, became one of the biggest movies of all time.
Using 3-D in movies, however, was just the beginning. Television soon followed, with such sporting events as the World Cup being featured in 3-D and with such companies as Sony and Samsung producing 3-D television sets. Now the music industry is getting into the act of this type of media technology. Justin Bieber and the Black Eyed Peas intend to release 3-D movie-concerts in the near future. The entire art form of storytelling is undergoing a major transformation.
The Internet
The internet is perhaps one of the most important and frequently used types of media technology today. It is publicly available around the world and is a system of interconnected computer networks that transmit data. The internet is a tremendous asset for business and industry, as well as personal communication with family and friends. It can also be a dangerous weapon, however, when used maliciously by people with no integrity and no sense of moral restraint.
A tragic example of misuse of the internet is what happened on September 29, 2010 when a young Rutgers University student walked onto the George Washington Bridge and jumped more than 200 feet to his death. This was three days after his roommate allegedly spied on him from another dorm room via a laptop video camera. Images of the student’s sexual encounters were broadcast live online. This horrible outcome was simply the latest casualty of internet abuse, with an 18-year old woman, a 13-year old girl, and a 13-year old boy taking their lives earlier as a result of similar embarrassments. Such incidents have led newspapers to write about the internet’s ability to abet defamation and shame, asking if social networking has gone “too far.” As with numerous other tools in modern culture, the internet is neutral but can be used with either good or bad intentions.
Although they are not the same, the internet and the World Wide Web are terms often used interchangeably. Technically the internet is a global data communications system, combining both hardware and software, whereas the Web is only one of the services communicated by the internet. The internet is an invaluable form of media technology used not only in every home and office but also on the street and in coffee houses. It is impossible to go anywhere today and not see people using the internet to communicate with family, clients, employers, and transportation systems such as airlines as well as to pay bills, order merchandise, and arrange appointments. Faxes, electronic mail, online chat, and instant messaging are just some of the popular uses of the internet today.
Printing
An older form of media technology that continues to be indispensable is printing. Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. Today it is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process and is central to the entire publishing process.
Although increasing numbers of people consult sources on the internet, bookshops and libraries are still doing a booming business. In addition to textbooks and both fiction and non-fiction books, printing can include stationery, print productions, and computer printing. It can also include magazines, newspapers, advertisements, and business cards. What company does not have letterheads and personalized envelopes? What professional sales personnel do not hand out business cards? Even federal and state government employees get in on the act. All these forms of printing are still used to market products and services. Printing companies are still doing a good business.
Technically a book is a collection of written, printed, or illustrated sheets of paper. Now, however, more and more people are carrying with them their new electronic books for the personal pleasure of reading, especially on long airline flights. Electronic books may be an entirely new approach, but they are still books. The publishing of those books may engage an entirely new approach to printing, but it is still printing. And it is becoming an increasingly popular form of print technology.
A recent form of printing is digital printing, which now accounts for nearly ten percent of the 45 trillion pages printed around the world each year. There is still a use for older forms of printing, however. Some of the more common printing technologies include inkjet, laser, dot-matrix, and electrophotography, as well as the older forms of blueprint, daisy wheel, line printing, and solid printing for television, especially satellite television, but it is not catching on so quickly for radio broadcasting. Its usage has been influenced in recent years by the popularity of computers. More and more homes in America have switched from analogue to digital television, especially with the recent transitions made by television stations and supported by the federal government. The intended audience is the general public.
Dreamweaver is one example of a program using technology to create high end, functional web pages. Those pages can involve such digital media elements as graphic design, flash, video and sound content.
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