Why New Media Is so Much Better Than Old Media

¶ … Collision of Old and New My experience with old media has completely changed as a result of the Internet. I no longer go to the movies or use DVDs, as I can see and stream all I want on the Internet from video hosting sites. I no longer even use a TV (never cared much for commercials anyway). I have some books but never look at them because all the reading I do can be done on the Internet.

Plus, with streaming sites like Netflix or YouTube, there is really no need to wait for TV shows anymore. It used to be in the old days that we would get excited about a new episode, but now there is so much content available on so many sites, and all at once too that it is just about impossible to keep up with it all. Additionally, the programming is so much more diverse.

On YouTube, for instance, I can listen to podcasts of people who would never before get any air time any other way. Tim Kelly's Our Interesting Times, for example, features guests who talk about a lot of subjects that the mainstream media will completely avoid yet which seem to offer such a better explanation of the world and why things are the way they are. So that is one interesting development: the ability for different voices to find an audience.

Instead of being subject to what mainstream media and its owners want put out there on television or in the movie theaters or on the radio, podcasts and YouTube allow virtually anyone to find their voice and grow their own audience. Therefore, because the Internet allows us all to binge content (which I get to choose), my relationship with TV is virtually non-existent. As for Spotify, I don't use it so much. If I want to listen to something, I find an uploader on YouTube who has put it up.

I like YouTube a lot for this reason: there are videos from amateurs, from professionals, from people trying to get better at things (learn a skill such as home improvement) -- almost anything you can think of. For instance, the other day I wanted to fix our washing machine and, sure enough, there was a video on YouTube that showed me exactly what to do, how to do it, and what part I needed to buy.

Instead of calling for a mechanic and being charged $100, I fixed it myself and the new part only cost me $1.20 -- and it took about 20 minutes to do.

(Of course, I had to wait a few days for the part to ship from Amazon -- which is another site I love, because I can shop without leaving the house and know that I am getting exactly what I want, rather than head out to the store, spend an hour looking for the right section then finding out that the part is not in stock: honestly, I don't know why stores even exist anymore).

When it comes to movies, too, the ability to pause, go back and skip ahead through boring parts has turned me into a person who has less and less patience with films. If it is something I want to see, I usually won't read about it on Wikipedia or IMDB because I don't want to spoil the plot. But if it is something I don't.