Five areas of study

1. Technology
What is my chosen technology, who is it marketed to? What has this technology allowed audiences and institutions to do that previously they could not do? Is the media new or old? What company is making the changes, and for what price?

Convergence - The process in which multiple technologies form together to form a new product i.e. VCR/DVD/CD players.

Digitisation - the material, whether picture, text or film can be reproduced by computers digitally in a very long sequence of 0's and 1's. This means the information can be sent digitally through computerised systems, for instance Sky+, and becase the square wave can only be a 0 or a 1, no where in between, there is barely any interference.

Linear/Non Linear - a linear experience is one that starts, goes in a straight line until it finishes e.g. a film at the cinema, you start watching at the start of the film and stop watching at the end of the film. Non linear is different, when someone uses interactive television, they can choose a variety of different extras e.g. alternative voiceover, extra video footage or explanitory text. this will give the viewer a unique experience to that narrative, and is controlled when they hit the red button. This experience then can be described as non linear.

2.Institutions
Institutions have a primary target to increase profit, but how are media institutions converging media interests to maximise profit? How do they create marketing campaigns to launch their new products? Do they listen to audience demands or do they have to educate their users?

3. Audience
What are audiences doing with their new media technologies? How are traditional experiences of the media changing? What are audiences not doing so that they can spend more time interacting with new media technologies? What advantages are there for the consumer? You will carry out audience research, asking opinions and investigating consumption patterns.

Interactivity – encourages the audience to be less passive and to engage with the media rather than just consuming e.g. red button on Sky. NOTE: non linear experience.

Democratisation – the ability to communicate your opinions and ideas, or share your creative output e.g. blogging.

Personalisation – the ability to offer users a personalised experience e.g. Sky+ allows users to pause live television and record their favourite programmes.

4. Issues
Does new media technologies encourage illegal activity (i.e. Limewire) or increased spending, or harm children? Will people lose jobs, affecting the labour market throughout the world? Are new media technologies creating any moral panics?

5. The Future
If the technology is extended, what could happen? How could media practices be different in future, based on the potential of current technologies?