The term convergence refers to the integration of multiple functions into one device or application. There seems to be an ever increasing move to convergence, but I'm yet to be convinced that how convergence is integrated into a technology is a worthwhile thing.
I think that the idea of convergence is a good thing - the thought that we can have one device that can perform multiple functions, but I am of the opinion that far too often, convergence is driven by marketing and sales and the true potential benefits of convergence are not realized as these products are converged for pure marketing purposes.
My first exposures to convergence was many years ago when (and here I go dating myself again!) VCRs integrated into TV consoles. I guess that the general premise was that the average consumer would save money by purchasing one device instead of two. Although this premise may look good in theory, the reality is that if one of the devices (i.e., the VCR) breaks, then the entire unit needs to be replaced. In addition, having convergent devices limits one's ability to keep up with the technology. As 4 head/stereo VCRs were being introduced into the marketplace, one had little choice in terms of upgrading the VCR if it was physically part of the console itself.
In terms of the software world, we seem to be a little luckier in terms of not being stuck with convergence. However, many years ago, convergence was attempted. In the early days of personal computers before the advent of Microsoft Windows, there was no multi-tasking. If you were working on a spreadsheet and needed to quickly lookup a customer address from the corporate database, you'd have to save the changes, exit the spreadsheet, load the database, located the customer record and manually save the information required. Next, you'd have to reload the spreadsheet and enter in the appropriate changes! The first attempts at software convergence was with a package called Lotus Symphony. Symphony was based on a Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet but it had a rudimentary word processor, database and communications package built into it.
Certainly, this is one example where the concept of convergence saved significant amounts of time and money, but the downside to Lotus Symphony was that the "add-on" applications had very minimal functionality.
Fortunately, with the multi-tasking of the Microsoft Windows and Mac Interfaces, it's now matter of fact to have multiple applications open and being able to link between them to extract information or to run queries.
My biggest pet peeve with convergence is that the functionality that is delivered is typically substandard and virtually renders the function next to useless. My Samsung Instinct cell phone is a good phone. I have no issues or concerns with using it for it's primary purpose. However, it teases me with the promise of a built-in camera and camcorder. The grim reality is that these two functions do not perform to task. I've all but given up the use of my cell phone as a camera as it has poor resolution, very limited zoom capability and the shutter speed is so slow that I more often than not end up with a big blur (probably appropriate for capturing pictures of Bigfoot!). I recently went out and bought a proper digital camera and I have no qualms about carrying around a cell phone, iPod and camera. That having been said, I'd be more than thrilled if there were one device which came close to providing the functionality of the stand-alone devices.
There may be those that argue that it can't hurt to have a bare basic camera, MP3 player & camcorder and to an extent, I would concede their point. However, I would wager that there are a significant number of cell phones out there that have cameras that are not used. I'd be a lot less concerned with convergence if we - the consumers - were given the choice if we wanted single function of multiple function devices and save the inherent cost of having a camera built into our cell phone that we will rarely use.
Another concern that I have with convergent devices is that the majority of them seem to use up significant amount of energy from the battery. I have learned with my Instinct to limit the amount of music that I listen to or to use any of the auxiliary functions as the phone itself does not have adequate talk time and there is nothing that I hate more than having my cell phone die on me as this is my only telephone line.
I find it somewhat amusing that Apple has now included a camera in the new generation of the iPod Nano. I'm quite interested from a marketing perspective, why they felt that there would be benefit to adding a camera to the Nano. I would have thought that their market audience would already have cell phones with cameras built into them, so I'm not really sure how useful this will be, but I imagine that there are those out there have always wanted to take pictures with their iPod?!?
As is the case with too much of our technology today - too much sizzle - too little steak. I'd much rather that technology focus in on the true needs and to meet them rather than to give us cute bells and whistles that the marketeers have deemed will increase sales.
Quick tip for this issue: There are times when it may be difficult to remove an application from your computer as the files are already in use. Further, when encountering problems with the computer, it can be made more difficult to troubleshoot and resolve as there are so many programs loaded into memory. When restarting Windows, it is possible to start it in what is referred to as "Safe Mode". This is a special boot up mode where only the essential services are loaded into memory and it will not load all of the extraneous programs that had been added to the computer. To reboot your Windows computer in Safe Mode, restart the computer and shortly after it starts up, continually press the F8 key which will bring up a special boot mode. There are two options of interest - Safe Mode and Safe Mode with Networking. The latter can be used if you expect that you need access to the Internet to perhaps download an update to Windows. One note, when booting in Safe Mode, the monitor will display at a lower resolution and it will not look as you expect. Once you've finished making all of your changes, reboot normally and the display will revert to what you had before.
Term for this issue: GUI (pronounced GOO-ey). GUI stands for Graphical User Interface and defines how applications appear to the user. Typically, MS Windows (or Mac applications for that matter) will have a consistent GUI in order to reduce the learning curve of applications. The GUI will define how the application looks and behaves. It defines the menus and all elements on the screen in a consistent manner.
Website for this issue: http://news.cnet.com/webware/. Part of the CNET news family, Webware is a useful web based technology site with some good articles and tips on a variety of topics.
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