Mediamorphosis

Mediamorphosis is a term made up by Roger Fidler. He wrote a book called Mediamorphosis: Understanding the New Media, and in the book he defines Mediamorphosis as “a unified way of thinking about the technological evolution of communication media. By studying the communications system as a whole, we will see that new media do not arise spontaneously and independently — they emerge gradually from the metamorphosis”. He states that technology evolves. He also states that the same forces that shaped our past are the same forces shaping our future. Technology will continue to advance overtime and will continue to make people’s lives easier. Humans make new innovations to cater the needs and wants of other people. There is no determination of the death or end of media, for newer forms of media emerge, thus the older forms do not die, but eventually adapt and evolve to time. The theory states that the  media, technology and communication are all in connected. Fidler says tates that we have to see all communication methods as one in order to understand them properly. 

One example of a product of mediamorphosis is the car. Cars provide means of transportation, and it also can be an indication of a person’s social status. Cars are considered a necessity. As early as 4000 BC to 3000 BC, humans have learned to use  donkeys, camels, and horses for transportation. And in a few years later, the wheel was  invented, and in the year 1886, thanks to Karl Benz, one of the first engineers to invent the first automobile. To this day, car designers come up with new ideas to make human beings’ to have better experiences with automobiles. Recently, Google invented the self-driving car. According to Google, the sophisticated operating system that guides the cars makes them safer than if a human driver were behind the wheel. The vast majority of car accidents are caused by human error. Self-driving cars an also travel closer together, which would cut down on traffic congestion.

Another example of mediamorphosis is the computer. In the current world, it’s almost impossible to imagine that someone can live without computers. Computers have become an electronic device of almost every day use for individuals of every age. Computers have gained significance as they have improved the efficiency and productivity of work done. Back in the day, the computer used to take up the space of one whole room. Now, it can be as tiny as the palm of people’s hands. Since people demanded portability throughout the years, designers have successfully thought of ways to make the computer as small as possible. To this day, computer designers still think of ways to advance the technology of the computer.

Another example is storage. Thanks to company IBM, the evolution of external storage would not be possible today. IBM created the first 8-inch disk, or they called “memory disk”, having a memory of 80 kilobytes. The original disk was bare, but dirt became a serious problem so they enclosed it in a plastic envelope lined with fabric that would remove dust particles. Years later, the smaller floppy disks were invented, as well as the CDs, DVDs, External Hard drives, USBs and SD Cards; with increasing storage space. The highest storage recorded for the external hard drive today is a massive 5 terabyte memory. Now, there is a thing called cloud storage, which enables files to be stored wirelessly.

According to Kevin Kelly, he describes a never ending chain of solutions to problems that create still newer problems. And that’s what drives demand for technology and why, on balance, it’s a good thing – it solves our problems.  As long as we have a needs unmet, progress will go on. Technologies wants are born out of our own desires. The development of new technology helps people save lives; it helps people make work easier and makes the world a better place to live in.