A product as a network of nodes, ties and flows.

Any finished product is a result of a network of nodes, ties and flows. A node is a physical place; a factory where something is produced or a shop where a product is sold. A tie is something which links these places either physically; the transportation of the product, the shipping industry or online; websites or emailing. The flow is the product that travels through the nodes and that is carried by the ties. The volume of the flow is determined by the demand for the product. The success of the network depends on the demand for the product which is determined by its quality, pricing, desgin, advertising and sales.

Butlers Irish Chocolates is an Irish brand producing Irish handmade chocolates in Dublin since 1932. Although their chocolate is an Irish product its main ingredient, cocoa grows in parts of Latin America and Africa. The cocoa beans grow in pods in cocoa trees. After six months they are harvested. Within 24 hours the beans have fermanted. This creates the chocolate flavour. The beans are then cleaned, roasted and ground into cocoa mass which is pressed into cocoa butter from which cocoa powder is produced. In this form it is transported to the factory in Dublin where the chocolates are made.

The farm and factories both in Latin America, Africa and Ireland and the shops where the finished, packaged chocolates are sold are the nodes. The ties are based on the logistics of managers that organise the flying, shipping and driving of the raw materials from the farm to the factory and from the factory to the shops and of course from the shops to the homes of loving consumers. What flows between the nodes is the flow, the chocolate in all its forms; the raw cocoa beans, the cocoa butter, the Easter egg or the Mothers' Day variety box.

Behind every product is a huge network of people involved in its conception, production, distribution and consumption. This network starts with an idea. Take for example Butlers Irish Chocolates. The production of Easter eggs by Butlers begins with the design of the egg, the managers figure out the demand for the product, they order a specific amount of ingredients based on this, they organise the design of the packaging, the materials for which must also be purchased thus creating a network of professionals in each field. Such a small thing as an Easter egg has involved an interconnected network of people; from the farmer who grows the cocoa pods, to the lorry driver who brings them to the port, to the worker who loads the ship, to the insurance company that cover the cargo getting lost, to the factory managers who conrol the product's quality, to the maintanance and machine installers, to the workers who package the finished product, to the people who designed that packaging, to the shop display designers who specialise in creating an environment conducive to the sale and finally to the consumer who buys and enjoys the product.

This network is interdependent. Without one of these elements that make up a network; nodes, ties and flows the product would not exist.

Van Dijk

Van Dijk defines New Media by three characteristics simultaneously; "they are media which are both integrated and interactive and also use a digital code." (Van Dijk p9 2006) This allows us to easily differentiate old and new media. For example, traditional television integrates images, sound and text but is not interactive or based on a digital code. Therefore it can be referred to as old media compared with new mobile devices which are fully digitalized, integrate image, sound and text, interactive and are connected to the internet.

Van Dijk describes these three defining characteristics in detail as the essence of the current communications revolution. The changes that bring about a revolution are structural changes and technical improvements. Integration is a stuctural new media characteristic. "It is the process of convergence" (Van Dijk p7 2006) of telecommunications, data communications and mass communications in a single medium. "The separate meanings of these terms will probably disappear" (Van Dijk p7 2006) instead we will use terms such as "multimedia" and "broadband".

Integration takes place on many levels; infrastructure, transportation, management, services and types of data.

Integration has been enabled by; the full digitalization of all media, and by the transmission of broadband through cable and by air.

Interactivity is, simlarly, a structural new media characteristic. Interactivity is "a sequence of action and reaction." (Van Dijk p8 2006) It is defined at four levels (in four dimensions) by Van Dijk and de Vos (2001); the space dimension, the time dimension, the behavioural dimension and the mental dimension.

The space dimension is the most elementary level of interactivity; it is the establishment of two sided communication.

The time dimension is the degree of "synchronicity" of the interaction. The quality of interaction is improved by the uninterrupted sequence of action and reaction, this is why face-to-face interaction better conveys meaning whereas immediate verbal and nonverbal signs are lost with mediated communication.

The behavioural dimension refers to the level of control of the interacting parties, and "is defined by the ability of the sender and the reciever to switch roles at any moment... as digital media are more interactive than traditional media, they enable a shift in the balance of power to the user and the side of demand." (Van Dijk p8 2006)

The mental dimension is the level of interactivity in which communicating with an understanding of meanings and contexts by all interactors is involved.

The Digital code is the technical new media characteristic. The digital code defines the form of new media operations. It is a code that enables the transmission of information in the form of strings of ones and zeros called bytes. This code has replaced analogue transmission of items of information through beams of light and vibrations of sound.

The transformation of media contents into the digital code is having three effects.

Firstly, it is creating a uniformity and standardisation of all contents.

Secondly, as this code has made it easier to produce and distribute information, and has increased the storage capacity of computers, it is increasing the quantity of items of information and communication.

Finally and most importantly, the transformation from "linear to hypertext media" has been made possible by the use of the digital code. (Van Dijk p9 2006) This is the transformation of the traditional linear order of units of communication and informaton to the hyperlinks of items obtainable to the reciever in the order they want.

Van Dijk has defined the new media of our current communications revolution by its characteristics of integration, intractivity and digital code. This short essay has summmarised Van Dijk's description of these characteristics.

Bibliography
Van Dijk, Jan (2006) "The Network Society" London; Sage (2nd edition)