Old New Media: From Oral to Virtual Environments

This title is printed to order. This book may have been self-published. If so, we cannot guarantee the quality of the content. In the main most books will have gone through the editing process however some may not. We therefore suggest that you be aware of this before ordering this book. If in doubt check either the author or publisher’s details as we are unable to accept any returns unless they are faulty. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Old New Media examines how the introduction of a new medium threatens those accustomed to the old media environment. Taking a media ecology perspective to examine the historical transitions from oral to literate, print, electronic and virtual media environments, the book includes theoretical chapters and case studies in five areas: media ecology; critical media theory; freedom of expression; Eastern thought; and the body and the media environment. The book argues against the newness of each new medium, which is often associated with unprecedented technological change, stating that the patterns of change identified with the most recent smartphone or computer are related to the patterns of change in human perception and social affairs that accompany the electronic media environment. It cautions against condemning the new medium with technological horror as the cause of all of our problems or celebrating it as the technological sublime that will cure all our social ills. If we are aware that media are extensions of the human, we can overcome the alienation and shock they cause, and be sensitive to the fluid boundaries between the human and the technological. The book ends by discussing how new media environments disrupt the balance in our lives and suggests strategies to help restore that balance.