Take It Apart
Basic Concepts of New Media
Dr. Philip N. Howard
Department
of Communication
Write a 500-word essay about the your systematic exploration of a piece of new media technology. Many people hold on to new media technologies, even when they are broken or so old as to be useless scraps ready to be recycled for silicon and metal. Choose something you think is new media. Good pieces of junk are often for sale on e-bay or junk yard sales for a dollar, but you can probably find good new media junk at home in storage, in or garbage bins or at one of Seattle’s many weekend flea markets.
Write about this as if you are an archeologist who has discovered an old piece of technology lying in a muddy field. You may have an idea of what it is called, but only vague ideas about how it works and what it is used for. Try to take it apart systematically, and take notes on what you think all the parts do. Make notes on your own feelings as you disassemble the piece of new media – vague impressions are fine. You are encouraged to take apart a technology that is already broken or not functioning: old cell phones; discarded disk drives, broken CD-players, etc.
This assignment is supposed to be fun, but exercise your good judgment at all times. Do not take apart something owned by someone else, or something that you think is dangerous to take apart. You are welcome to use bricks, rocks, and hammers to smash the technology open. Clean up any mess you make, especially if you drop the technology from a high altitude. Do not plug the technology into a wall socket while you are taking it apart. There will be no put-it-back-together assignment in this class.
The Essay. PUT THE THESIS STATEMENT OF YOUR ESSAY IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, LIKE THIS. In the beginning of your essay, describe the technology you have found, what you think it is, and how you think it works. In the middle of your essay, write about your systematic deconstruction of the object: stages of taking it apart, relationships between the parts, where they were made and what you think they do. At the end of your essay, offer a definition of new media that is based on your observations.
Assignment Goals. First, this assignment will help overcome some of the mystic qualities of new media technologies. Second, this assignment will encourage you to develop and practice your writing style. Third, this assignment will encourage you to go through the difficult exercise of defining ‘new media’ technology and going from a concret analyzable object to an abstract concept.
Assignment Grading. This assignment worth 40 points and is due Friday October 6th at 5pm on E-submit. Label the assignment with your last name, first initial, underscore, and "apart". For example, if Laura Busch submits her assignment, it would be labeled “buschl_apart.doc”.