HW Creativity

New media technology is unlocking  new ideas everyday. 

Advanced new media networks such as social media and/or search engines that increase connectivity and research along with the continued innovations in technology create a synergy of creativity. This synergy makes both the producers and end users crave more. There is a constant thought of what can be done that is different, better, and provides easier accessibility than what already is. 

A great article of from our class readings which explains new media fostering creativity is 1+1+1=1 "The new math of mashups" by Sasha Frere-Jones. To think, there once was a time where we recorded radio onto cassette tapes to be able to listen to music "on demand." Creatively, new media moved this action from "old media" radio and cassette tapes to new media social media and downloads/streaming. In the article Sasha quotes Mark Vidler saying: 


“You don’t need a distributor, because your distribution is the Internet. You don’t need a record label, because it’s your bedroom, and you don’t need a recording studio, because that’s your computer. You do it all yourself.”

He sums up the extent of new media technology on creativity. The reason why it fosters it is because it allows for it to happen in the first place. Without new media, ideas would not be able to reach the masses as they do today. The word of mouth that new media offers allows for quick updates, quick rebuttals so to speak of any and everything that is done; constantly innovating. In a nutshell, The article sheds light on how advanced music industry has become where we are able to dissect a song down to its single instruments, take those samples and relay them onto a new spread creating "Mashups." Doing this however leads into a bunch of copyright issues where credit needs to be given to the original, even if the new does not sound anything  like it.

There is however a balance to maintain between being first vs being correct or beneficial. At times new things are released which are actually detrimental instead of beneficial. A good example of this can be something as simple as an application upgrade of Facetime, a video call app by Apple. Video calling has become a standard with all messaging apps no so there is a constant battle to be #1. This involves new and creative ways to appease the audience and staying one step ahead of competition. Unfortunately there was a glitch in one of Facetimes recent updates where a users speakerphone started even before the video call was accepted causing massive privacy issues.