Creativity

New media has opened up a myriad of opportunities for the amateur computer or technology gadget user to look like a professional that has studied it for years. The user friendly software packages have put a number of tools in the hands of the common person which has piqued the interest of the masses. This has done wonders for creativity because people are able to create things that were only possible for people who have worked with computers for a long time or who have degrees in some type of technology hardware/software program. I can work my way around most business programs but when it comes to programs like Photoshop, Dreamweaver, etc., I don’t have the experience necessary to create anything impressive. I would be the first to say that I am not good at drawing or creating anything on a computer but I do have good ideas. With things like photo apps on an iPhone, I am able to do things with pictures/designs that I never thought possible. There are also computer programs that make it so user friendly that I can just use templates already pre-populated in certain programs that allow me to do something with the ideas in my head.

The ideas don’t always have to come from these large corporations or super-smart program/web developer with their fancy code language and difficult terminologies I have to Google every time I hear one. Innovation can come from the common person and New Media companies pick up on that. In the article “Twitter Serves Up Ideas From It's Followers”, Eric von Hippel (head of innovation and entrepreneurship group at the Sloan School of Management at M.I.T.) realized that the Twitter may have some ideas that the company could benefit from so he allowed them to help create new uses for the technology and it helped them become even more successful. This is smart because and idea can fall right into their lap and they didn’t have to spend millions of dollars in research and development. It is much cheaper going this route and allows them more time to focus on other things that can help them become even more successful. Look at mashups, this is a tough one for large companies because they have to be careful that the mashup doesn’t negatively affect their company if it looks like they are condoning something that may be improper but it could also give them a larger following that they could have never tapped into on their own. Nickelodeon allows their audience to create humorous videos using their characters but Disney would most likely consider this stealing. Again, these companies have to figure out what is considered acceptable use of their trademarked/copyrighted material. There is so much creativity that goes into these things and so much content out there, companies have to pick and choose which battles to fight. If they were to sue everyone, they would probably lose so much money on lawyer fees.

Creativity is tricky. Some could say that using someone else’s creation and putting a spin on it is not really creative but that can be debated. Original ideas are usually respected more than something like this but not everyone can do that. It can become expensive if you need specialized software/hardware or years of schooling. I feel that they are both creative but there definitely has to be a line that should not be crossed. In my opinion, New Media has done wonders in the way of helping foster creativity and the sky is the limit for even the common person with little design experience. Welcome to the future of technology.

Sources used:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/24/business/media/24crank.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/technology/internet/26twitter.html