Bits vs. Atoms
Atoms are what make up all the physical objects in the universe. Digital objects and content are made up of “bits”, information in the form of code that tells a machine what to display and where to display it. In the past, forms of media like books, music, pictures and films have only been available to us in the form of atoms. Recently, we have changed that to where we can get all of those in the form of bits. There is no longer a need for a physical copy. We can download all of them straight off the internet and view them right on our computers. We don’t have to get up from our chairs or couches any longer. But do we want everything in the form of bits?
I know many people that still prefer to have the physical copy of something over the digital copy. I prefer to have both. There are benefits to having the atoms and having the bits. With music an movies I like to have the physical copy just because is something like an artifact. I feel like I can say “look, I have this thing, I own this thing.” If it’s a book there is a huge advantage to having it in bits because it much easier to search through if there is something specific you need to find. However, when it comes to actual reading I prefer to be holding the document or book in my hands. There’s something about physically flipping the pages back and forth and being able to write your own notes in the margins.
Thankfully we don’t have to take our film down to Wal-Mart to get it developed anymore. We can just plug our cameras into our computers and then put the pictures straight on there. But what’s the point if they are just going to sit on the computer? Some of them are used for promotional content, others are just pictures of memories. I like having certain pictures to put up around my apartment to look at as I pass by. For example, I have a large poster of a professional paintball team called the LA Ironmen that all of the team members signed back in 2008. If all I had was a digital copy, they couldn’t have signed it, and I would only be able to look at it if i go searching through my computer to pull it up. In some sense, there is a sentimental value in having these artifacts in the form of atoms, but there is possibly more informational value in having them in the form of bits. I used to not want the digital copy of anything at all, especially video games. I did not want to download my games, I wanted to put the disk in and start playing, but then something bad happened and I saw the true value in having content in the form of bits.
Last October (2015), my apartment was broken into. The thieves took my tv, my laptop, my Ipad, my cigars, and my Xbox One along with all of my games that were in the form of atoms. I had one game in the form of bits installed on my Xbox: Halo 5. Technically they stole the bits too, but my incredible friends came together and bought me a new Xbox for Christmas. Once I signed into my Xbox Live account I was able to re-download Halo 5 onto my new console without having to pay for it again. This completely changed my view of atoms vs. bits. All of the other games they got I could not get back, but because I had one that I had purchased in the form of bits rather than atoms I could get that one back. So, at this point I still like to have my atoms when I can, but when there’s not really a point (such as a video game or a movie) I am going to go with the bits from now on.
The film industry is also making its own transition from atoms to bits. Traditionally, movies were filmed on film stock. Some argue that there is a certain quality that film stock provides that cannot be achieved on digital film. However, film stock is extremely expensive and digital film saves filmmakers ridiculous amounts of money. Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones producers estimate they spent about $16,000 on 220 hours of digital film. The same amount of time in film stock would have cost them about $1.8 million. Granted, if they were using film stock they probably would not have filmed 220 hours of footage. Not only does digital film save money, it allows a lot of flexibility. Filmmakers can take as many takes as they want, and begin editing almost as soon as a scene is filmed.
This transition from atoms to bits plays a huge part in convergence culture. Convergence culture is essentially many different media being available on a single device. Phones are a perfect example of convergence culture. In “Convergence Culture”, Henry Jenkins tells us that he wanted a phone that would only make phone calls. He did not want “the electronic version of a swiss army knife”. However, he was unsuccessful in finding a phone that is just a phone. Now, our phones are hardly phones anymore, and we hardly use them for phones. Sure, we make a few calls now and then, but we are mainly on social media, whether it be Reddit (my personal favorite) or Facebook or Instagram, etc. We are sending emails and text messages and multimedia messages. We are taking pictures and videos with them and sending those pictures and video to people all over the world. There are even high quality games on our phones that people will spend hours playing. The actual phone is an extremely small part of what our “phones” have become. Convergence culture is providing a path to what Henry Jenkins calls “Participatory Culture”.
One of my friends has produced a reality show filmed entirely on his iPhone called Love in the Macon. He would not have been able to do this had convergence culture not taken its toll on things like phones. Convergence culture allows everyone to participate in media. Whether it is films, TV shows, music, or even writing, anyone can participate in whatever way they choose. Musical instruments and paper and pen are all available to anyone in the form of bits. For filming, you still need a camera, but you don’t need film anymore. The film is made out of bits. Despite the price of cameras, the digitization of content still allows for mass participation across the world. However, not all participation is good.
Lawrence Lessig suggests that certain laws are holding back creativity amongst amateur content developers. Disclosure: he is not advocating for piracy and redistributing someone’s digital content for there own gain. When people put certain music or certain videos on youtube that are too similar to something someone else has already created many of them get removed due to copyright violations. Lessig says that people should be able to take someone’s digital content and use it in a way that says something different than the original creator was trying to say.
Mass participation is essentially a good thing. However, people participating and producing low quality content is not helping further the notion of participatory culture. Lessig says we need amateur content, but not amateurish content. Amateurs will one day be professionals, and in order to become professionals these amateurs need to produce somewhat decent content that shows they have some potential. If everyone participating was producing amateurish content, then there would be no future professionals.
The transition from atoms to bits shows a lot of positive promise for the future in terms of what we as humans can do with turning atoms into bits. It can open even more doors for mass participation and communication. However, this has to be used carefully or it may not be as helpful to humanity as many people are predicting.
