David Bralha

As a first year student to Ryerson's Radio and Television Arts program, I was not too sure what to expect of the Fall semester. Would I be working in a TV studio? Maybe behind a sound board? I thought yesterday's lecture would give me some direction, but I soon learned that digital media encompasses much more, and I still have a lot of thinking to do.

Our professor, Lori Beckstead, brought to the screen a variety of shows, movies, and even videogames. She told us how all information could be represented by one's and zero's, to an extent that surpassed my previous impression of the term. It seemed that, despite living in a cutting-edge society of constantly evolving technology, I never quite realized how far we've come in recent years.

Prior to the lecture, I underestimated the term digital media. "MP3 Players" were the only devices that came to mind upon hearing the words. Now, I've stretched my mind to recognize that nearly all forms of media (satellite dishes, text messages, etc) can be represented by digits. It is apparent that we live in a digital world, when a person can pull out his cell phone and play pong on the surface of a building (as shown in one of the clips during the lecture). Future RTA students should take a course in digital media, if nothing else, to recognize and appreciate how central digital media is to the entertainment world, and also to explore it's potential in the future.