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What Media Evolution Is: A Theoretical Approach to the History of New Media
The article suggests an explanation for the emergence of new media. Media are not merely the consequence of technical inventions, but derive from a two-stage process of inventing and ‘social institutionalizing’. The technical invention just improves on the old media: for example, Gutenberg improved...
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Published in: | European journal of communication (London) 2004-12, Vol.19 (4), p.483-505 |
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Main Author: | |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Citations: | Items that this one cites |
Online Access: | Get full text |
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Summary: | The article suggests an explanation for the emergence of new media. Media are not
merely the consequence of technical inventions, but derive from a two-stage process
of inventing and ‘social institutionalizing’. The
technical invention just improves on the old media: for example, Gutenberg improved
writing, films improved older optical media and wireless improved wired telegraphy.
In the next phase of innovation, new media become institutionalized: now, new media
such as the periodical press, motion pictures and broadcasting emerge. A process of
‘social institutionalizing’ changes the invented media
fundamentally. Society ‘institutionalizes’ inventions by
discovering new possibilities of communication; it adopts and formats new media. The
theoretical approach suggested in this article combines evolution theory with Joseph
Schumpeter’s distinction between invention and innovation. The article
deals with the competitive media history of press, telegraphy, film, radio,
television and multimedia. It provides a survey of the emergence of new media with
respect to social, political, cultural, economic and technical debates. |
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ISSN: | 0267-3231 1460-3705 |
DOI: | 10.1177/0267323104049461 |