OUGD401 - Study Task 03 - Reading and Understanding a Text

As a way of introduction to reading and analysing academic texts for our chosen essay question, I read an excerpt from the book Graphic Design Theory by Meredith Davis. Chapter: A Convergence of Media. 

5 Key Points that Davis makes:

1. New does not replace old, but integration happens over a period of time
2. Disputing that new technologies displace older systems with decisive suddenness 
3. No media exists purely by itself
4. Old formats can’t keep up anymore
5. We need more forms of media outlets

5 Quotes from the text:

1. 'The collision and convergence of old and new produce outcomes that often define particular periods in our technological history'
2. 'Media convergences occur regularly and constitute an evolutionary process, not a fixed point in time when one medium instantly displaces another'
3. 'Inherited forms and traditions limit and inhibit, at least at the start, a full understanding of the intrinsic or unique potential of emerging technologies'
4. 'We must resist notions of media purity, recognising that each medium is touched by in and turn touches its neighbours and rivals'
5. 'An increasingly intricate web of interactions among people, objects, and settings

The tone of voice was very formal and authoritative, naturally as Davis was a Professor of Graphic Design at NC State University and is a multi-published author. The text is factual and well researched, and references to designers, theory and other works and scattered liberally.