I think the difference between blogs and wikis are the public perception of them. Wikis are used more as a source of information and used as a basis for collaboration. Blogs on the other hand have the feeling of a personalized forum. This is changing, with the introduction of community blogs such the one that read about that was responsible for shutting down the crack house in Brooklyn. Although, that website has more of the feel of a forum. Like I said my perception of blogs is more of a personal forum. Like many things in web2.0, definitions are constantly changing.

Wikis on the other hand are just breaking ground as collaborative forum in places that aren’t wikipedia.  In the article ‘Up from the grassroots,’ 'Up from the grassroots' it explores how wikis can be purposed in the workplace and education. Look no further than this class for an example. Imagine if it was applied in other classes. The downside of wikis is that it’s not just write and post. A little technical know-how is required but it’s very basic and I’m sure software and plugin’s will be along to make that easier. As well, they aren’t as customizable and visually appealing as blogs can be, but some can argue that makes the information stand out.

my project

Like I said before, I love music. I'm a musician as well as I'm a Music Business Major. For my term project I'm going to be discussing how New Media impacts the Music Industry. Everything from production to distribution. I hope to interview a couple of people in the business along with  some background readings and articles I've sourced online. I'm not sure what the final scope of it is yet, I'll know more after I hear back from some industry people I've emailed.

Describe New Media

To go a little more in depth with the “What Is New Media?” post, lets look at the specifics of old media and what kind of technologies are changing the landscape of information and entertainment. One of the best ways to distinguish old media from new media is simple. You can touch it. CD’s , DVD’s, Paper, even Blu-Rays are obsolete. If you can’t view it on your computer, download it, stream it, or there’s not an app for that ITS OLD. Not to say the music industry hasn’t evolved by using iTunes and other online portals, or the Film industry hasn’t adopted using Netfix but the days of physical media are nearing an end. Netflix the mail-order DVD rental company that gained massive popularity due to DVDs is in the process of phasing them out.

I’ll even go as far as far as saying that innovative strategies using new media such as the one seen here by the start-up. The Printed Blog, is old media...  Their model of printing out user selected blogs and delivering the in local geographical area in major metro areas is a great idea. Its certainly is more appealing than reading a national syndicate, but its still is old media. I can’t click respond and fire off a comment saying how I feel about an issue. I have to go on a digital device to do that. Like I said, If you can touch it, it’s old (excluding tablets of course)! 

What is New Media?

New media, is the term to describe the technologies that change the way we interact with the world and each other. It impacts everything from education, personal communication and entertainment, corporate restructuring, and even revolutions.

New media relies on the Internet, one may even say that the Internet is New Media. The internet is both the conduit and host. For example, look cloud computing, your facebook page, google apps, etc., all of the data is stored in server farms in remote locations and accessed instantly at the click of the mouse. For example look at this New York Times article Who Needs TV? I'm Watching on a Laptop. We see people using popular sites like hulu and network websites to stream programming that was once only available via TV or download. In these cases, the content is hosted elsewhere and accessed through your computer. It doesn’t take up much disk space, just bandwidth.

These tools are helping us enhance our previous concept of media, now know as old media. The New York Times online has interactive articles with a multitude of multimedia features such as guided tours you just can’t get from the print version. Our utilization of multiple screens changes the way we think about traditional media. If I’m streaming TV and want to know more about a topic, I can google it on the spot. If I want to share a video or song with all my friends I can post it on facebook, sendspace or soundcloud.

New Media is here, but what we call new media today may be old media tomorrow. It is not a static term and will develop as the technology does.

First Post

Let's keep this informal. I do work a night time security guard so I'll probably be posting here at extreme hours of the day, hence the 4am. Not much is coming to mind at the moment other than the fact I get off work in an hour and a half!