In his book Writing for the Web: Coding, Composing, and Constructing Web Sites J.D. Applen mentions the concept of “variability”. Variability describes how new media never remains the same like traditional printed media would. When opening a printed text like a book or a newspaper you are met with the same text, format, images, etc. No matter when you crack open these printed pieces of media their content will remain the same. You could say the same for analog audio media like cassettes, or vinyl records. The only thing that could truly alter these traditional works is if they were damaged or physically altered. A vinyl records remains unchanged until it is scratched which can lead to distortion of the media etched onto it, for example.
Digital media however– particularly online media– can be the opposite. Content and the platforms that host that content can be changed. Online news sites can release articles on developing stories and update them as events unfold. Entire websites can completely overhaul their UI or UX which can alter the format in which information is displayed and interacted with.
According to Applen, unlike traditional media, digital media can be altered without the content feeling deprived or missing. If a page is torn from a book or a song is recorded over a cassette that content thus becomes in complete. But with digital media if an image is removed or added, a blog post is updated with more text. It doesn’t feel missing, in fact it could add to it completeness.
That is the variety that digital media can bring to the table.
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