What New Media is Not Questions

1) Manovich has claims about what new media is not and argues that even thought it is perceived as being interactive it is not. He states that in contrast to old media where the order of presentation is fixed, the user can now interact with a media object. In the process of interaction the user can choose which elements to display or which paths to follow, thus generating a unique work. In this way the user becomes the co-author of the work. I don’t understand why Manovich doesn’t believe that this is true of new media because this is what has made new media so unique is that it is said to be interactive. With this though I question how quickly technology progressed and how art has gone from being considered only drawings on paper or canvas to being digital works. If what is considered to be new media continues to progress at this quick of a rate, what will be considered “new” media is in say 10 years?

2) Manovich has all these theories on what new media is not but isn’t so clear on what exactly new media is. He states the if new media is placed within a longer historical perspective then it can be seen that most of these principles are not unique to new media and can be already found in older media technologies. Is he saying that new media is only copying what old media used to do and that there is nothing unique about new media?