Vat Ist Nu Meeeeeedia?

So, today we discussed a bit about what New Media is. It seems to mean different things to different people, but there are a few constants. For one, the terms "digital" and "creative" seem to pop up often.

My best attempt at trying to describe what New Media is taking what Computer Science uses to do what Herron does. That's definitely oversimplifying, but I'm trying to say that we create SOMETHING for some purpose with an artist's eye, but with a technology-based approach. This can take a million different forms - for example, using Photoshop to create a digital image (even one that appears to have been created from traditional art means). But where I find New Media to REALLY flourish is when you use what makes digital technology such a wonderful tool to its fullest. Personally, I've been messing around a lot with using Flash to generate some...well, it's better to just show. Here are a few examples of my recent experimentations...

http://www.cs.iupui.edu/~cscallah/experiments/fireWorx05_mouse.swf

http://www.cs.iupui.edu/~cscallah/experiments/painter03.swf

I would say that it pulls on the art side of New Media since...well, it sort of just exists for its own sake (and yeah, there are a few deeper concepts about enjoying the moment, appreciating what we have since it's very fleeting, etc. etc.), but it doesn't really have a practical purpose. And we've got the digital side of it, since it's...digital (all Flash, by the way).

On a side note, I almost always get frustrated with classes like today. Discussing something that has tons of possible variations, interpretations, and so on just tends to wind up a jumbled mess in a class this size.

Guh...brain just got gunked up. I might expand on these thoughts later, but don't count on it. I seem to be runnin' out of mental energy...