Media as a Cyborg Encounter

Steigler states that a human "invents himself in the technical by inventing the tool -  by becoming exteriorised techno-logically"(Steigler,1998)

This in other words means that the concept of human is unthinkable without technology but we act as if it is. It is as if humans, in a sense, need technology to be able to carry out daily functions, as it seems that the human path of evolution has been aided by the rise and dominance of continuing technological advances. 

Michael Foucault was also interested in the body as an object of knowledge, in particular, the "docile" body of that of a soldier. He likened a group of army soldiers to a well oiled machine, working in tandem with each other to carry out a task. (Foucault, 1991). In very much the same way that a machine would work, taking a car engine for example, one of the great combustion inventions of all time, and its pistons, working together to drive a vehicle forward. 

In this reading, it is also discussed how humans would be unable to do the tasks that a supercomputer would be able to do. An example given was the study of a human genome being the same as assembling 300'000 minute pieces of the Oxford dictionary. For a human to do this on their own it would be merely impossible, but I think it is unfair to dismiss a humans achievements because it was in fact, humans who had to build and process these first supercomputers around the 1980's that would be able to deal with such large tasks and the storing of such information. I wouldn't think that discrediting anybody's achievements of this nature would be fair due to that fact that humans did assemble computers first. 

Homo Sapiens distinguishes us as as being able to possess language and use complex tools(Shaw,2008,pg.88). Shaw goes on to state that we may have 'made' these machines but in a way, they 'made' us. In a sense this can be true, because we adapt to new computers and technologies and possibly, learn new skills from them, but it can never be taken away from the human race that we did in fact make these machines possible and develop them further for them to be available to use for all the human race. 



References - chapter 4 - Technobodies - D, Shaw, 2008, pages 82-101

Digital Cultures

Creeber starts of by stating that the study of New Media is a 'Complex and Diverse' field. In his work 'Digital Cultures' Creeber takes about Modernism and Post-Modernism and how they lead to and relate to New Media theory.

'Modernism is the umbrella term we give to the way that human society responded to the changes that took place during the industrial revolution.'(Creeber, 2009: pg 11).

When Modernism came about in the late 19th century it was received by the majority of society to be this scientific way that would take the human race forward and be revolutionary in the production process, and with the rise of Modernism came Industrialization.
Industrialization brought about arguably the most important production invention of all time, the printing press. The invention of the printing press gave birth to a way of relaying news to the masses in a way that was never done before.
Many Modernists believed the introduction of Industrialization to be the looming down fall of originality, that 'modernists came to perceive industrialization as the enemy of free thought and individuality' (Creeber, 2009: pg 12).
The best example of this being true was in Henry Ford's case. Henry Ford profited significantly from industrialization when he made adjustments to the assembly line method, this allowed him to produce auto mobiles faster and cheaper and this also meant that they were more accessible to ordinary Americans. However because they were all mass produced this meant there was no discernible difference in the final products.

'when asked what colours his cars came in, Ford famously replied, any colour as long as its black'. (Creeber, 2009: pg 13)

'There are many examples that reflect modernism's disdain for the media,' (Creeber, 2009: pg 12). The best example and most famous of theorists that took a stance against this was The Frankfurt School. The Frankfurt School consisted of a group of Marxists that where exiled from Germany during the second world war and came to America. The Frankfurt School seen the media culture in America as a prime example of a culture that had become a 'standardized product of industrialization' (Creeber, 2009).

After the industrial revolution there came Post-Modernism. With the coming about of post-modernism came the society of consumers, in this era products where starting to made to fit the consumers needs rather than the product being made for manufacturings sake. From the point when this cultural change started it hasn't changed it has just become more demanding and now products are created to fit our every need and this is a result of the consumer society being embraced as it has been. The way of consuming has come on some much that even when your watching television your not passively consuming it your more evolved and you interact with it. New media is interactive.

'New media is interactive. In contrast to traditional media where the order of presentation was fixed, the user can now interact with the media object.' (Manovich, 2002)

Bibliography: 

Creeber, G & Martin, R. (2009). Digital Theory: Theorizing New Media

Digital theory: theorizing New Media - Glen Creeber

In order better understand New Media, 'Old Media' must first be analysed along with its relationship to modernism. "Modernism is the umbrella term we give to the way human society responded to the changes that took place during the industrial revolution." (Creeber, 2009: 11).
Industrialisation began at the end of the nineteenth century and many modernists viewed it as an enemy of free thought and creativity (Creeber, 2009). Although this could be said to be true, as it did profit the producers rather than the masses, it could also be said that it advanced the country culturally. An example of a profiteer was Henry Ford's success in the automobile industry (Creeber, 2009), his techniques of mass production made producing cars not only faster but cheaper. This made Ford's cars more accessible to the masses, although this method did come with draw back of every car looking alike. "When asked what colours his cars came in, Ford famously replied, 'any color - as long as it's black'. (Creeber, 2009: 13).
The Frankfurt School, who were a group of marxist theorists who exiled from Germany to America during the Second World War, theorised that this 'Fordist' philosophy was apparent in all areas of mass culture, making all productions similar (Creeber, 2009). They found that American mass production was linked to it's mass culture.
Post Modernism came after the industrial revolution, it has absorbed the effects of that era and embraced it. A consumer society had emerged and the economy went through a transition from manufacturing based to service based (Creeber, 2009).
Products have been produced to fit our needs, our phones became mobile and have video, music, games, internet, and much more on them. Interactivity has become a major point of focus in our media, for example while watching television programmes we might often see a hash tag for use on twitter. The audience not only watches the show but also comments while the shows progresses to a world wide audience.
The user now has a say in the production, sometimes as much as a producer. If we look at Big Brother or the X Factor as examples, it is ultimately the viewer that votes contestants out of the show and decide the winner. The general public are having a bigger say in the world than ever before and it is a exciting time to live in.


Bibliography:

Creeber, G. (2009). Digita Theory: Theorizing New Media & Cubitt, D. (2009) Case Study: Digital Aesthetics in ED. Creeber, G. & Royston, M. (2009) Digital Cultures: Understanding New Media; Maidstone, Open University Press.