It is not that long ago that small electronic gadgets like cell phones, audio players, cameras, PDA's and GPS systems were carried around routinely by their users as separate items. However, over the last few years these items have been amalgamated into cell phones, which now commonly provide a multitude of functions in one small handy item. This process of a coming together of separate technologies is known as 'convergence'.
Cell phone manufacturers realised that as their products became an essential part of everyday life, they needed to find more and more ingenius ways to encourage users to regularly upgrade to the latest model. Adding the additional functions was an easy way to achieve this and cause people to buy more of their products.
The most extreme example of convergence was when Apple launched the iPhone, which brought just about every pocket electronic gadget together into one handy unit. No longer would the traveller need a separate GPS route planner or a separate portable games player or movie player. The photographic quality also improved to the point that their pictures can now rival those of dedicated compact cameras. High definition video can be captured onto compact memory cards which offer huge storage capacity, rivalling that of the computer hard drives of only few years ago. Following the mainstream adoption of the smartphone in the last couple of years many people now use their phone as a portable computer, routinely loading 'Apps' for a huge range of purposes.
With a few of the very newest gadgets like the Samsung Galaxy Notethey're now seeking to bridge the gap between mobile phones and smaller pc tablets by providing a fully featured hybrid that permits users to exchange both of these gadgets with just 1. Therefore it seems that the ‘golden age’ enjoyed by the mobile phone producers in the age of miniaturisation is coming to an end. They might find it much more challenging in years to come to discover methods to motivate owners to trade up every couple of years to the newest ‘must have’ product.
Possibly they are going to have to work somewhat harder on 3D or holographic displays, or perhaps true voice recognition and artificial intelligence? I suspect though, that like the space race in the 60s and 70s, when all of us believed that at this point we’d be living on the moon, our pocket gadgets are coming to a final point of convergence where they're as good as they're going to get!
Cell phone manufacturers realised that as their products became an essential part of everyday life, they needed to find more and more ingenius ways to encourage users to regularly upgrade to the latest model. Adding the additional functions was an easy way to achieve this and cause people to buy more of their products.
The most extreme example of convergence was when Apple launched the iPhone, which brought just about every pocket electronic gadget together into one handy unit. No longer would the traveller need a separate GPS route planner or a separate portable games player or movie player. The photographic quality also improved to the point that their pictures can now rival those of dedicated compact cameras. High definition video can be captured onto compact memory cards which offer huge storage capacity, rivalling that of the computer hard drives of only few years ago. Following the mainstream adoption of the smartphone in the last couple of years many people now use their phone as a portable computer, routinely loading 'Apps' for a huge range of purposes.
With a few of the very newest gadgets like the Samsung Galaxy Notethey're now seeking to bridge the gap between mobile phones and smaller pc tablets by providing a fully featured hybrid that permits users to exchange both of these gadgets with just 1. Therefore it seems that the ‘golden age’ enjoyed by the mobile phone producers in the age of miniaturisation is coming to an end. They might find it much more challenging in years to come to discover methods to motivate owners to trade up every couple of years to the newest ‘must have’ product.
Possibly they are going to have to work somewhat harder on 3D or holographic displays, or perhaps true voice recognition and artificial intelligence? I suspect though, that like the space race in the 60s and 70s, when all of us believed that at this point we’d be living on the moon, our pocket gadgets are coming to a final point of convergence where they're as good as they're going to get!
About the Author:
David A Griffiths is a professional technology consultant in the uk. Also owning many businesses, with particular emphasis on making money on line and mentoring beginners to learn internet marketing.
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