Interactivity: Media convergence and digital media

摘要

Convergence and digitization are closely associated with interactivity, which will be discussed in detail. This essay begins with the literature review of interactivity and digital media, which will lead to the ongoing debate of the strengths and weaknesses of interactivity in the new media era, say, the positive perspectives and negative perspectives of interactivity in the board range of digital media forms, in a sense that the development of digital media technologies has not only brought us Internet (both PC and Mobile) as brand new media, but also changed the way traditional media present themselves. Provided with the debate of whether or not interactivity is a positive perspective of digital media, this essay is going to focus on the question 'Is interactivity a defining feature of digital media?' It will be argued that, in many cases, if not most, interactivity is a defining feature of new digital media, but it is hard and maybe impossible for interactivity to become a defining feature in all sorts of digital media forms, for example, digital cinema productions.