| Abstract [eng] |
Today’s trends, as well as, trends in recent decades, in terms of modern technology or new media, mainly focus on understanding how they affect our lives. Representatives of classic media studies are interested in the fact, how the Internet, messaging sites, e-mail, and other computer programs impact consumers. Such research, given the rapid development of technology, remains relevant. And even today there are plenty of researches that seek to answer questions about how we are exposed to the media. Thus, according to these trends, media studies certainly do not lose their popularity, but here it is important to note that the media themselves, as objects of research, receive less attention in these studies. Nevertheless, in recent years the situation has changed and there is a growing interest in digital materialism when analyzing the materiality of media and modern technologies. It raises questions about what and how media-enabled objects, devices, or machines are made, and seeks answers to understand how the materiality of these technologies affects our environment, our approach to technology, and why it is important to pay attention in what everyday media consists of. This relatively recent theory of digital materialism is relevant today, as the aspect of materiality has become less noticeable with the onset of active digitization processes. Of course, the devices we use still retain an obvious material form, but media-enabling structures such as the Internet, software, databases, and storage usually do not evoke associations with the conventional notion of materiality. Thus, another possible approach to the media has emerged, which has helped to shape studies that point out that even the examples mentioned above are not just code-expressed, hard-to-imagine, and unclear structures. On the contrary, they are also empowered by material objects that, although existing outside our personal spaces, are still composed of a wide variety of materials operating in the environment, and the perceptions (or the lack of perceptions) of these structures influence our attitudes toward media, technology, and such aspects as national or company policies and international agreements. This project examines cloud computing according to the theory of digital materialism. Even though, often it is hard to image the cloud as material technology, in the course of this work, the aim is to reveal the material basis of cloud computing. It is important to mention that most often, when it comes to works written in Lithuanian, cloud computing is examined purely from the point of view of its usability. Therefore, the approach to cloud computing presented in this paper, among the works and articles written in Lithuanian, is quite new. The object of research of this project is cloud computing and media infrastructures that enable it, more specifically, data centers. The aim of this project is to reveal the materiality aspects of cloud computing based on the theory of digital materialism. The following tasks are set to achieve the above mentioned aim: 1. to find out the concept of digital materialism in new media studies; 2. to single out the tendencies of attitudes towards digital materialism; 3. to define the perception of cloud computing; 4. to analyze what manifestations of materiality are found in cloud computing. This project was written using descriptive and content analysis methods. Upon completion of this project, it was observed that the “cloud” metaphor contributed significantly to the formation of an intangible approach to cloud computing. However, the work also revealed that cloud computing has a clear material basis, that is, a network of media infrastructures that enable the cloud and its operation. |
