Review of Lev Manovich's 'The Language of New Media' Analyzes Digital Media's Cinematic Focus

In his 2001 publication 'The Language of New Media,' Lev Manovich posits that cinema influences digital interactions. The Moscow native, currently an Associate Professor at UC San Diego, outlines five key principles of new media: numerical representation, modularity, automation, variability, and transcoding. He connects these ideas to Konrad Zuse's digital computer, developed between 1936 and 1938, which utilized punched 35mm film. Manovich contends that the transformation of all media into numerical data reshapes media identity more significantly than the computer itself. The book's organization reflects a computer's architecture, moving from coding principles to surface phenomena, with essential processes like selection, compositing, and teleaction. It emphasizes the database as a new symbolic form, contrasting it with traditional narratives. The review highlights a focus on visual media, especially games and VR. This 354-page work, published by MIT Press, evolved from his 1993 Ph.D. dissertation.