This paper provides a clear and informative introduction to the issues surrounding the surge in digital technology and the application of the new methods of translating data into a viable commodity. Cawson considers four main strands of digital convergence; the industries themselves, the companies which make up the industrial bodies, the products they produce and the technological means by which they digitally disseminate data.

In separating a discourse on convergence into four clear entities Cawson underlines his belief that a generic convergence of digital ³services² into one ³product² is not inevitable. In all areas of convergence there have been examples of attempted marriages of either products or services or technologies which have failed to produce all that they promised. Consumer products such as CDi and Tivoli have not achieved market success and on the industrial side mergers between different types of service providers (content and conduit for example) have either fallen through or have become a hybrid which, in an attempt to retain the status of strong market player, has had to redefine its business ethos. Cawson defines convergence as ³a coming together of previously discrete technologies² and quotes Negroponte¹s concise explanation of the key feature of the transformation required by convergence as, the ³move from atoms to bits². It was, according to Cawson, advances in Mathematics which initiated the digital era. Algorithms have altered the bit packing process and in simple terms the data which carries one TV programme on analogue can be increased eight fold using broadband.

Digitisation has transformed media production dramatically. In any area the changes which have occurred due to the alteration in the way in which information or data or bits is translated has resulted in a redefining of the industry. Where the ³old² systems of analogue (for phones) and paper (for the news industry) still remain they are now only the final stage of a combination of processes, most of which are digital or have been digitised. Cawson sees such diffusion of technology as beneficial to the consumer in terms of cost and utility, although he urges caution until proven business models are established.

Will products ever truly converge? In this debate we are shown that it is not simply the technology or innovation which needs to exist it is the social and economic clime which also needs to evolve in order for convergence of certain products to succeed. Some products, Cawson cites the radio cassette player for example, have been successful in merging 2 distinct appliances. Others such as the PCTV have not, yet. The obvious differences here being the physical areas and the areas of space and time which the two separate entities inhabit. TV, a leisure associated device and the PC an interactive work or information associated device have not yet merged in the philosophical sense in the mind of the user. Until this happens a seamless convergence of the two products is unlikely. The creation of new ³information appliances² has also created a new sub-set of producers, a kind of mini-industry. This is the consumer-producer. With the increase in digital cameras, web technology and PC software which allows you to create soundtracks and turn your PC into a mixing desk there is suddenly a new breed of digital manufacturers. This is a new view of convergence where what is actually converging is the end user and the product, thereby producing an interactive user. This new interactive user is armed with a digital weapon. She can purchase or gain possession of commodities though digital transfer. She is able to translate what was once a multi step process involving physical action, real money changing hands and unlimited paperwork into an invisible exchange with the end product being a service or item which again is the only ³step² that is not digitised.

Cawson analyses the convergence of industries as a process which creates new industries and also alters existing or old industries. Industries can converge when they discover common ground and when their services become similar. This may well be the case in the industry created for supplying the bit carriage market. It is not enough however for technological advances to open up new commercial paths, there is argues Cawson a necessary interplay between public policy, market developments and the associated technology. This information or ³content² industry which is made up of a range of companies from ³old² industries perhaps allows for the clearest insight into how convergence is happening. Cawson cites an example of the advertising and entertainment content providers. Where these two have always been uneasy bedfellows, struggling over the duvet, they have now a far more dynamic relationship. The possession of information, provided by the interactive usage of entertainment seekers gives the advertisers an enhanced power. Adverts can be tailored to meet specific ethnographic sub-groups and content can be altered in milliseconds.

Cawson¹s conclusion is that far from being purely an economic phenomenon, convergence is ³the digitisation of the production and distribution of information². It is the replacement of analogue with digital which may, almost as a side-effect, result in convergence. Products may merge or converge but their success will be dictated by the consumer not the available technology. Similarly some firms have moved into new areas and have converged previously differing technological services into one (on the surface that is). Finally the digital communication industry is seen by Cawson as an unlikely focus of convergence, he sees the power base of these companies coming out of not the strength of a created monopoly but from the control of the final gateway of communication. The interface between consumer and product.

Title of the reading:ŒConvergence¹article from Jones Telecommunications and Multimedia Encyclopaedia

The basic meaning of convergence is a process to destroy barriers between categories and form broader categories.In terms of the technologies used in computers,television and telephony,convergence proponents see optimistic futures as final goals of its outcome.Some assert it can realize a massive interconnection of digital technologies.It means that all technologies from the toaster on the kitchen to the data server in the library will be connected with speed and accuracy.Some stress on the revolution of access to intellectual properties made by humanity.They think convergence will make it possible by converting text,visuals,video or sound to simple digital bits.There are proponents who support convergence on a personal level the reason why they can enjoy the freedom to interact with other people electronically.On the other hand,convergence will cause the collision among technologies,industries and institutions,and that will result in chaos.

Convergence is the hottest topic in the field.The focus is the microprocessor in the computer,the broadband delivery capability of television and the global,networked,two-way interconnections of telephony.The state of those technologies that provide the basis for thought on convergence are so competitive and flexible.Repeating rise and fall,technology now focuses on how to perform the four essential functions which are create,display,distribute and store using digital bits.But the outcome of those work must be easy enough to the ordinary people.

The industry proceeds with undergoing a drastic technological change. The impact of convergence is gradually effecting not only on the aforementioned computer, television and telephone industries but also on all the industries related more or less to the communication such as entertainment producers, radio or consumer electronics. There are two major issues to represent convergence going forward. One thing is fusion between televisions and computers. Their contents will be transmittable mutually in U.S.because Federal Communications Commission decided to make the digital television standard usable to computers in 1996.The other thing is the head-on competition between telephone and cableTV.Telephone has the networks while CATV has the bandwidth to carry information.They have begun colliding which industry can take the initiative over digital and digital compression.Telephony has been taken advantage to be familiar with digital switching,but the distance comes closer for the development of digital compression in digital television.This competition will toward to fuse two industries and this stream of convergence may involve computer industry.As to be shown,technological convergence concurs with industrial convergence.

Institutions also ride convergence into their future,but the form is rather passive.those organization such as Libraries,hospitals,schools or governments make use of the provided service which can beyond the bounds of time and space.this stream of convergence can serve to make intellectual world more effective. Convergence has brought many changes.The problem is that we has been slow to change our perception of them.We should be aware that we are posed to redefine our world and our interactions.Communications through the internet has changed the way how to relate to other people because a person¹s identity is obscure in this anonymous world.Instant communication drives us into instant decision making and it dose not always create reasonable results so far.The change of communication will bring us a flood of infromation.Obviously,no one can comprehend everything pouring into our lives.That is creating a new job category called information agents.They pre-select information delivered to us. One of the possible future form of our communication is a PAN.It is a system with electronic devices to exchange our personal information without oral communidations.Convergence will speed the availability of technologies which make our every day life automatic and speedy.We have already got involved to a digital life more or less.

Convergence will be chaotic and will release new methods of communication upon us.Some concern about the bad influence of it on our society.Others have a optimistic notation in the coming digital future.In short,the door way to take advantage of all convergence will open only to those who are keen on that change.

Synopsis of http://www.digital-convergence.htm

Andy Covell¹s introductory chapter to Digital Convergence: How the Merging of Computers, Communications, and Multimedia is Transforming Our Lives , offered little more than a superficial nod to the main issues of convergence. Covell charts the progress of computer technology from the initial calculatory based machines through large mainframes to the new generation of multimedia PCs through banal anecdotes from his own working life and case studies which purport to demonstrate the power of the new media explosion. Some of the information, aspects of particular pieces of software which have been created and have altered the dimensions of interactive communication were of interest, but one felt that one was ploughing through fields of chaff to find a grain of wheat It may well be the case that as it is the introduction, Covell feels the need to produce a simplification of the issues of digital technology but after reading it I was not left with the impression that I would learn much more if I read the whole book. At times I felt I was reading an Idiot¹s Guide to Digital Technology, at other times it seemed like an evangelical tract, leading me to the path of righteous communication. I expected to be sold something at the end of every paragraph. Maybe this in itself is the point of the reading. That the explosion in digital technology, added to the convergence of media and the divergence of audience, means that the consumer has become the producer and the product is only really the by-product of the process of production. We, the other consumer have as much chance of buying a healthy option as we have of buying junk. What the convergence of digital technology has resulted in here is implicit in the existence of the work itself. That using experiences gained from interacting with media and then using such media to begin a process of production Covell has embarked on a journey where he has synthetically re-traced the steps of Adam Smith. He has revoked the division of labour and amalgamated or converged all the processes of production in order to manufacture his treatise. The end result being that we are reminded of the downside of media accessibility.

Convergence - Jones Telecommunications and Multimedia Encyclopedia This article analyses and argues the way convergence is creating changes not only technically but also in our society, industries, and institutions and the way this changes are creating and will create chaos while others will succeed. For some convergence proponents, the goal will be to convert all the information created by humans in bits, to make them accessible for everyone, everywhere.

Technologies involved in converging are those used in the four functions - display, create, distribute, and store. Now, the more common technologies in terms of convergence are those used in computers, televisions, and telephony. As the competing technologies collide some of them will blend and the rest will disappear as it has happened in the past.

Different industries are converging, not only the television, computer and telephone industries are involved but also are the radio, publishing, photography, electronic appliances, etc. for some of them the change has been slow and based in the benefits that it can produce of doing so. Technologies and industries are converging creating new products, new services and new markets. Institutions are also converging and some of their functions, making them more accessible for their consumers.

As the article says convergence is happening and it depends on us to benefit from the opportunities that will come with it. Our society is making changes slowly, the way we communicate for instance, but to apply all the content of convergence we need to redefine our way of life.