Digital Media, History of

Abstract

Digital media, also known as “new media,” comprise content created, disseminated, and/or stored using digital computers or mobile devices (video games, blogs, e‐books, etc.), as well as their physical embodiment (hard drives, DVDs, flash memory sticks, etc.). Digital media are often defined in contrast to “analog media,” new media in contrast to “mass media.” In terms of the former differentiation, whereas analog systems of transcription record continuous signals of information in their original form (e.g., a strip of celluloid film used to chemically capture actual waves of light), digital systems of encoding break this continuous signal into discrete units and typically represent this information as binary code, i.e., a series of 1s and 0s stored on and manipulated by a computer (→ Digitization and Media Convergence). In terms of the latter distinction, whereas mass media are often defined by the centralization of production and distribution of content to a large audience (i.e., one media message disseminated to many receivers and a relatively homogenous audience), through the use of digital technologies “new media” are defined by networks of dispersed media production and reception (i.e., many media messages spread across different media forms and delivered to distinct niches of reception; Lister et al. 2003). The history of digital media documents the move of computers from glorified calculators to devices that are transforming human communications, entertainment, and creative production, linking digital media to earlier interactive machines and media.