Although i may somewhat be 'stating the obvious' here, i thought a good starting point would be to try to highlight/explain what we mean when using the term 'new media'. When discussing new media, i feel the keyword in explaining what we mean is 'technology'. It is through technology that we have advanced in all aspects of our lives, be it physically, socially and even mentally. However this evolution is not always necessarily something totally 'new', in the sense that these technological changes are simply advancements in the forms that already existed.
Until the 1980s media relied primarily upon print and analog broadcast models, such as those of television and radio. The last twenty five years have seen the rapid transformation into formsof media which are predicated upon the use of digital computers, such as the Internet and gaming consoles. The use of digital computers has also transformed the remaining 'old' media, as suggested by the advent of digital television. Even traditional media forms such as the printing press have been transformed through the application of technologies such as image manipulation software like Adobe Photoshop and desktop publishing tools. This new media, which relies essentially on digital technologies can be identified as a somewhat convergence from the analog to the digital age. We no longer make use of video cassette players or sony walkmans, when we have faster, better and more desirable forms available to us, i.e. dvd's and mp3 players. Academically the term 'new media' has been disputed, mainly due to the fact the technologies involved are now up to 25 years old, and therefore not new in the sense of recent innovations.