Today, when people hear the words “new media” they think digital objects. However in the 1800s, analog photography was considered new media (Manovich 21). The thing about new media is that it is new and the idea of new doesn’t usually last, therefore new media is constantly evolving. Most recently, new media can be described through numbers. Manovich claims that “all new media objects…are composed of digital code; they are numerical representations (27).” The result of these numerical representations are layers built upon each other. When a photo is put into a document, it is still and individual photo and can be altered on it’s original program. Large parts consist of smaller parts, and those smaller parts consist of even smaller parts to create the new media elements we see on a daily basis. Manovich also touches on variability. This means that new media can exist not only in one version but in infinite versions. This allows us to connect characteristics of new media that we would not usually. New media has also become the primary way of communication. People read, watch, see, and share. In The Geology of Media, it is stated that there is an “immaterial sphere of information where ideas become coded into zeroes and ones, independent of material substrate, transportable on the vague and indeterminate channel of ‘the internet.’” This sphere is dependent of the duration of the Earth and the materials we have available from this enable media technologies to function. In conclusion, though new media is constantly evolving it continues to be used as a platform to distribute other forms of media.

Manovich, Lev. The Language of New Media. London: The MIT Press, 2007. 10-61. Print.

Parikka, Jussi. “The Geology of Media”. TheAtlantic.com. The Atlantic Monthly Group, 11 Oct. 2013. Web. 23 Sept. 2014.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/10/the-geology-of-media/280523/