PB2 Part 3

PB2 Part 3 from Jessica Xiao on Vimeo. Password: pb2

Old media is obsolete

For this statement, I have created a short video entailing a brief history of the evolution of technology. I have included some technologies that were game changers for media, and concluded with the fact that in our society today, a smartphone can replace all of these separate apparatuses with its abundance of apps and functions. So in a world where the smartphone can replace everything else invented in the past century, is there still meaning and purpose to keep using old media forms? Do people purely go back to them for its nostalgic value? Is their function completely obsolete after having been replaced by newer, more convenient media models or is there still value to using these practices and technologies? Can we learn from them; are there ways in which they can make new media better?

When researching traditional media, one of the main themes that come up is the concept of nostalgia. Nostalgia is a product of human nature that is universal – it is present in many aspects of personal and societal life. For example, according to an NBCUniversal study of marketing, brands that connected to the past resonated most with consumers and rose to the top of their Brand Power Index. Just the same as consumers connected with the sentimental value of past pop culture from the branded advertisements, there is a desire to  keep using old media. Bolin (2015) suggests that the passion for now ‘dead’ forms of media stems from nostalgic relationships with the objects of one’s formative youth period. This unwillingness to let go of old media, ‘technostalgia’, is produced by an attachment to childhood memories, a way to preserve to “loss of childhood”; as well as a generational recognition of shared media that cannot be translated to later generations.

Apart from sentimental value, others examine the significance and purpose of traditional media within the new media landscape. More than just an archive of technological history, Kitch (2015) argues that there is a need for the material value of traditional media in our current virtual-based society. Kitch thinks that there is another dimension to old media artefacts because they live through physical journeys. A digital photo can be sent through virtual email across the world, but this journey leaves no footprint. There is something special about holding a hundred-year old postcard in your hands, as you are holding a connection with all the places it has been before and all the other people who have encountered it previously.

For me, I see value in old media practices and believe that studying them can be beneficial to how we use new media. For example, despite the convenience and increased choice available using a digital camera, we might learn from film camera practices as the concept of limitation might produce more thoughtful works. Instead of being able to take multiple shots of the same thing on an iPhone and later editing them to perfection, a different thought process and level of care is required when there is limited chances to capture and the photo is presented in its original, imperfect form.

Ultimately, the smartphone may be able to make previous technologies redundant by combining them all in one gadget in the palm of our hand, but I believe that the legacy of old media remains and there is definitely still a place for it to hold meaning within our current media landscape.

Works cited

  1. Yochim, E, and Biddinger, M. (2008). “It kind of gives you that vintage feel”: Vinyl records and the trope of death. Media, Culture & Society, 30(2).
  2. Bolin, G. (2015). ‘Passion and nostalgia in generational media experiences’. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 19(3), pp.250-264
  3. Here’s to the good old days. (2013). Adweek, 54(18), pp. 35-36.
  4. Kitch, C. (2015). Making Things Matter: The Material Value of Old Media. American Journalism, 32(3), pp.355-362.

 

yutingxiao

Hello! I'm Jess and I like pizza and marathoning TV shows.

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