Response to On Media

Media is always changing. What is considered new media today will be old media tomorrow. New media changes our view of old media. As Hovagimyan mentions in On Media, painting moved towards abstraction once photography was discovered. This is because photography brought a new perception to the audience. A photograph brings the actuality of a scene. A painting could never do the same.

This being said, painting still exists. It did not disappear after photography was discovered. It only changed. The same, I believe, has happened to sound. However, I do not think sound could ever be considered old media. The types of ways we hear sound, however, can be. For example, in grade school, everyone knew and use cassette tapes. Today, cassette tapes are nonexistent. CDs were the next manner of listening to sound. In later years, however, MP3 players replaced CDs. No manner what devices of listening are invented, sound still remains the same. Yet, sound might change depending on the mode of listening. For example, since sound excels on an MP3 player, it gives artists incentive to develop more creative sound.

Media is ever changing. New media is always being discovered. This causes old media, once considered new media, to be compared to new media. Sometimes this can cause change, like painting moving towards abstraction. Other times it can initiate advancement, like sound advancement. Nevertheless, media will always be changing. It’s inevitable. The way we criticize media’s change will determine our own perception of media and the advancement of media.