Old vs. New

       I think one major distinction between old media and new media is the level of interaction among users.  Old media such as television, magazines, and newspapers primarily serve the purpose of conveying some sort of message or information to us.  On the other hand, new media such as blogs, wikis, etc. allow for more communication among users.  For example, reading a newspaper would only give you one view of a particular topic, while reading a bunch of people’s blogs about the same topic might offer a different perspective.  At the same time, other people can comment on those thoughts and offer yet another perspective.

       Another major difference between old media and new media is the level of customization and personalization of the final product.  One example of this relates to music on the radio.  The “old” media radio lets users tune in to whatever station they want, but they have to listen to what is being played at that given time.  As part of “new” media, Pandora radio plays music based on preferences the user inputs and if they don’t like that particular song they can hit skip.  Another example is with DVR or TiVo on your television.  “Old” media television would only let you watch a particular show when it was on the air, but with these two “new” media functions you can watch whenever you want and even pause/rewind/fast forward the show. 

       Overall it may be hard to distinguish “new” media from “old” media because of the convergence of the two.  For example, almost all major newspapers (“old” media) have online access where the writers and columnists have personal blogs (“new” media).  This is also the case with many television shows because they will have full episodes available online after the show has aired.