Digital media

Digital media (or, more rarely, computer media) are electronic media that are digitally encoded. Analogue media form the contrast to this. The term "digital media" is also used as a synonym for "new media".

Digital media are communication media that function on the basis of information and communication technology (e.g. Internet). Digital media are, on the other hand, technical devices for digitizing, calculating, recording, storing, data processing, distributing and displaying digital media content. The digitization of media began in the second half of the 20th century. Digital media represent a profound change compared to earlier, analogue media, both in terms of production and use.

Computer technology provides the basis for digital media. Computer systems are primarily based on the binary number system. In this case, "digital" refers to the discrete states of "0" and "1" for the representation of any data. Computers are machines that interpret binary data as digital information.

The recording and storage of media content as digital data, such as a piece of music or a video sequence, is usually a technically highly complex process and belongs to the field of digital signal processing. In modern data-compressing processes for the digital processing of images, video or audio signals such as JPEG, MPEG-4 or MP3, methods of higher mathematics such as the Fast Fourier Transform play a central role.

If digital media are published on the Internet, i.e. made available online, they are also referred to as online media.

History

Codes and machine information were first conceived in the early 1800s by Charles Babbage. Between 1822 and 1823, Ada Lovelace, Mathematics, wrote the first instructions for computing numbers on Babbage engines. Lovelace's instructions are now considered the first computer program. Although the machines were designed for analysis tasks, Lovelace anticipated the potential social impact of computers and programming, writing. "For in the distribution and combination of truths and formulas of analysis, which may be more easily and more rapidly subjected to the mechanical combinations of the engine, the relations and nature of many subjects to which science necessarily refers in new subjects, and more deeply explored [...] there are in all extensions of human power or additions to human knowledge various collateral influences, in addition to the primary and primary object attained." Other ancient machine-readable media include instructions for pianos and looms.

It is estimated that in 1986 less than 1% of the world's media storage capacity was digital, and by 2007 it was already 94%. It is assumed that 2002 was the year in which mankind was able to store more information in digital than in analogue media (the "beginning of the digital age").

Digital computers

Although they used machine-readable media, Babbage's engines, player pianos, Jacquard looms, and many other early computing machines were themselves analog computers with physical, mechanical parts. The first truly digital media came with the advent of digital computers. Digital computers use binary code and Boolean logic to store and process information, allowing one machine to perform many different tasks in one configuration. The first modern programmable digital computers, the Manchester Mark 1 and the EDSAC, were invented independently between 1948 and 1949. Although different from modern computers in many ways, these machines had digital software that controlled their logical operations. They were binary coded, a system of ones and zeros combined into hundreds of characters. The 1s and 0s of the binary system are the "digits" of digital media.

In 1959, the metal oxide silicon field effect transistor (MOSFET or MOS transistor) was invented by Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng at Bell Labs. It was the first truly compact transistor that could be miniaturized and mass produced for a variety of applications. The MOSFET led to the development of microprocessors, memory chips, and digital telecommunications circuits. This led to the development of the personal computer (PC) in the 1970s, marking the beginning of the microcomputer revolution[14] and the digital revolution.

As We May Think

While digital media did not become commonplace until the late 20th century, the conceptual basis of digital media dates back to the work of scientist and engineer Vannevar Bush and his celebrated essay "As We May Think," published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1945. Bush envisioned a system of devices that would help scientists, doctors, historians, and others store, analyze, and communicate information. Bush called this then-imaginary device a "memex."

The owner of the Memex is interested in, say, the origins and characteristics of the bow and arrow. In particular, he is investigating why the Turkish shortbow was apparently superior to the English longbow in the skirmishes of the Crusades. He has dozens of potentially pertinent books and articles in his Memex. First he goes through an encyclopedia, finds an interesting but sketchy article, and has it projected. Next, he finds another pertinent article in a story and connects the two. So he goes and creates a trail of many items. Occasionally he adds his own commentary, either linking it to the main trail or connecting it to a specific item through a secondary trail. If it turns out that the elastic properties of the available materials have a lot to do with the arc, he branches off onto a side path that takes him through textbooks on elasticity and tables of physical constants. He inserts a page with his own longhand analysis. Thus he builds a trail of his interest through the maze of materials available to him.

Bush hoped that the creation of this memex would be the work of post-World War II scientists. Although the essay predated digital computers by several years, "As We May Think" anticipated the potential social and intellectual benefits of digital media and provided the conceptual framework for digital science, the World Wide Web, wikis, and even social media. It was already recognized as a significant work at the time of its publication.

Digital Multimedia

Practical digital multimedia distribution and streaming have been made possible by advances in data compression due to the impractically high storage, memory, and bandwidth requirements of uncompressed media. The most important compression technique is the discrete cosine transform (DCT), a lossy compression algorithm first proposed as an image compression technique by Nasir Ahmed at the University of Texas in 1972. The DCT algorithm was the basis for the first practical video coding format, H.261, Other DCT-based video coding standards followed, most notably the MPEG video formats from 1991 onwards, and the JPEG image format, also based on the DCT algorithm, was introduced in 1992. The development of the Modified Discrete Cosine Transform (MDCT) algorithm led to the MP3 audio coding format in 1994 and the Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) format in 1999.

Digital codes, like binary codes, can be changed without reconfiguring mechanical parts

Examples

The following list for examples of digital media is based on a more technical view:

Screen-related applications:

• E-Book
• Digital radio
• Digital television
• Internet, World Wide Web, Social Media
• Computer game
• Mobile phone
• Digital Video

Interactive objects and installations:

• Multi-touch table
• Interactive whiteboard

Interactive environments (spaces defined by media):

• Exhibition space, also multimedia

Interactive architecture (especially communication in public spaces):

• Media facade

And other interactive media.