Change Agents

Interactive Media vs. Digital Media

One may ask what is the different between Digital Media and Interactive Media, I bet if you asked 10 different people you would get 10 different answers. The terms have evolved along with the technology that drives them and will continue to change as technology advances. If you go back a few years, even an overhead projector was considered “Multimedia”, but the arrival of the digital age caused a need to differentiate between analogue (linear) and digital (Interactive). Terms began emerge like ‘New Media’, ‘Digital Media’ , ‘Interactive Media’ and more, although the terms Digital Media and Interactive Media have become more stable and are being used increasingly. Let’s look at the definition of Interactive Media.

Interactive Media: Interactive Media is the integration of digital media including combination's of electronic text, graphics, moving images and sound into a structured digital computerized environment that allows people to interact with the data.

If you interpret Interactive Media by the definition above, then it will lead you to the conclusion that they are one in the same, Interactive Media is consuming the term altogether. I personally like the term Interactive, when you think about the word itself you picture a person who is involved and interacting with his environment, whereas the word digital means ones and zeros so to speak. However, I think that both terms have a life in today’s world, in my view the terms can coincide together and complement one another. I view Digital Media as a form of one singular media at time such as Video, Audio, and Text and so on and Interactive media would be the culmination as whole, a finished product that masses interact with.

Change Agents

You have all heard the phrase that the only thing in life that is certain is “Death and Taxes, If I act as a proactive change agent and modify phrase to incorporate a new word, the only thing that is certain is “Death, Taxes and Change”. As a person who has worked in management as a Systems Manager for over 20 years, one thing that I have learned is that change is inevitable in today’s workplace. Change can often be a scary frontier at first glance, the safety in business as usual affords us piece of mind and comfort, but we have to embrace change and growth.

I’m afraid that companies, especially small ones, who fail to incorporate change will not survive or remain competitive in the fast past of modern technology. Change can help if we give it a chance. I would encourage everyone to actively embrace and search for new technology that can deliver your message better to the consumers, Promote change in the workplace and allow information to flow freely and efficient. Don’t change for the sake of change, Change for the sake of improvement and efficiency.

Technology in the Future

I think that no single technology will have an impact more so than any other, it’s the embracement of multiple technologies that will have the greatest overall impact. My plans in the future include Photography, Videography and Website Design. This is an ever-changing field where advancements in equipment and software change yearly, if not faster. Rapid advancement in computer chip technology is allowing much more data to be stored on much smaller devices. The equipment is smaller, faster and with much better resolution than in years past. The technology of change itself will be the contributing factor in most cases, seek all the technology that drives your business and learn from the market that is what will have a lasting impact of success of my company in the future.