It seems that almost every year, a new iPhone is introduced into the market, and due to the technology that makes phones into smaller, more portable computers, news is traveling to people in ways that no one could have expected fifteen to twenty years ago. To find out what is happening in the world, people no longer have to wait the next day or week for newspapers and magazines to be published so they can be informed about current events. Instead, due to disruptive technology, such as the smartphones and their apps*, media outlets that have been around for years have become outdated and are now considered old media.
According to Caroline Howard in her article for FORBES**, disruption “changes how we think, behave, do business, learn and go about our day-today”. So therefore, disruptive technology is thus labeled because it is part of daily life, and concerning the media, it completely changes the way we receive and distribute news. This change creates new media distribution channels that can include the typical news outlets you can find on the television to the social media on the internet (Twitter, Facebook, BuzzFeed, etc.). Any media outlet that can carry news in a faster way due to the introduction of disruptive technology can be considered new media because these outlets are the main sources of current events.
Right now, it may not seem that we can receive news any faster than we already do. However, as Jill Lepore states in her article featured on The New Yorker, “Disruptive innovation is competitive strategy for an age seized by terror”. Her reference to terror is more specifically referring to the fear of losing financially. This is why technology companies consistently create better products—so they can increase their profits and try to stay ahead of others who do the same. But in this technology race, new media is created, causing current forms of the media to either adapt or risk joining the floppy disks and 8-track players living amidst piles of dust.
Although the numerous innovations that take place over an increasingly shorter span of time may sound negative due to the businesses and media outlets that may go under because they could not adapt, they can also be positive. These innovations, sometimes labeled as disruptive, cause people to change in the way we think and act, creating different jobs, and placing different emphasis on what is important to our society. These new technologies challenge the media and other technological companies to think of new ways to stand out and appeal to people all over the world. With the constant introduction of new technology, soon, most likely what we call “new media” will also become an outdated tool to find information. Even with all the changes in technology that we have seen in just the last twenty years, it may be hard to imagine a world where news can travel faster than our fingertips.