Technological convergence

Technological convergence is a tendency for technologies that were originally quite unrelated to become more closely integrated and even unified as they develop and advance. The concept is roughly analogous to convergent evolution in biological systems, such that (for example) the ancestors of whales became progressively more like fish in outward form and function, despite not being fish and not coming from a fish lineage. In technological convergence, a cardinal example to convey the concept is that telephones, television, and computers began as separate and mostly unrelated technologies but have converged in many ways into interrelated parts of a telecommunication and media industry underpinned by common elements of digital electronics and software. ...a 'catalyst' for amateur digital film-making and what this case study suggests about the future directions popular culture may take. Star Wars fan films represent the intersection of two significant cultural trends—the corporate movement towards media convergence and the unleashing of significant new tools, which enable the grassroots archiving, annotation, appropriation, and recirculation of media content. These fan films build on long-standing practices of the fan community but they also reflect the influence of this changed technological environment that has dramatically lowered the costs of film production and distribution. Technological convergence is a tendency for technologies that were originally quite unrelated to become more closely integrated and even unified as they develop and advance. The concept is roughly analogous to convergent evolution in biological systems, such that (for example) the ancestors of whales became progressively more like fish in outward form and function, despite not being fish and not coming from a fish lineage. In technological convergence, a cardinal example to convey the concept is that telephones, television, and computers began as separate and mostly unrelated technologies but have converged in many ways into interrelated parts of a telecommunication and media industry underpinned by common elements of digital electronics and software. 'Convergence is a deep integration of knowledge, tools, and all relevant activities of human activity for a common goal, to allow society to answer new questions to change the respective physical or social ecosystem. Such changes in the respective ecosystem open new trends, pathways, and opportunities in the following divergent phase of the process' (Roco 2002, Bainbridge and Roco 2016 ). Siddhartha Menon defines convergence, in his Policy initiative Dilemmas on Media Covergence: A Cross National Perspective, as integration and digitalization. Integration, here, is defined as 'a process of transformation measure by the degree to which diverse media such as phone, data broadcast and information technology infrastructures are combined into a single seamless all purpose network architecture platform'. Digitalization is not so much defined by its physical infrastructure, but by the content or the medium. Jan van Dijk suggests that 'digitalization means breaking down signals into bytes consisting of ones and zeros'. Convergence is defined by Blackman, 1998, as a trend in the evolution of technology services and industry structures. Convergence is later defined more specifically as the coming together of telecommunications, computing and broadcasting into a single digital bit-stream. Mueller stands against the statement that convergence is really a takeover of all forms of media by one technology: digital computers. Media technological convergence is the tendency that as technology changes, different technological system sometimes evolve toward performing similar tasks. Digital convergence refers to the convergence of four industries into one conglomerate, ITTCE (Information Technologies, Telecommunication, Consumer Electronics, and Entertainment). Previously separate technologies such as voice (and telephony features), data (and productivity applications), and video can now share resources and interact with each other synergistically. Telecommunications convergence (also called 'network convergence') describes emerging telecommunications technologies, and network architecture used to migrate multiple communications services into a single network. Specifically this involves the converging of previously distinct media such as telephony and data communications into common interfaces on single devices, such as most smart phones can make phone calls and search the web. Media convergence is the interlinking of computing and other information technologies, media content, media companies and communication networks that have arisen as the result of the evolution and popularization of the Internet as well as the activities, products and services that have emerged in the digital media space. Closely linked to the multilevel process of media convergence are also several developments in different areas of the media and communication sector which are also summarized under the term of media deconvergence. Many experts view this as simply being the tip of the iceberg, as all facets of institutional activity and social life such as business, government, art, journalism, health, and education are increasingly being carried out in these digital media spaces across a growing network of information and communication technology devices. Also included in this topic is the basis of computer networks, wherein many different operating systems are able to communicate via different protocols. Convergent services, such as VoIP, IPTV, Smart TV, and others, tend to replace the older technologies and thus can disrupt markets. IP-based convergence is inevitable and will result in new service and new demand in the market. When the old technology converges into the public-owned common, IP based services become access-independent or less dependent. The old service is access-dependent. The term digital convergence means the ability to view the same multimedia content from different types devices. These are all thanks to the digitization of content (movies, pictures, music, voice, text) and the development of connections methods. Reading emails on your TV via a connected smartphone, watch a streaming movie on the home theater connected to the Internet. Digital convergence simplifies our life into our living room. Formerly, each unit operated independently and networks were not interconnected. Today, information flows on the same network and are stored, read, viewed or listened via same types of equipment. Networks, technologies and content converge on a single device. Result: it saves time and simplifies life. Some examples of digital convergence are; 1. Windows 10. 2. The Iphone, Android or other smart phone devices. 3. Google Glass 4. Iwatch 5. Drawing Tablets for Pc’s 6. Automatic washing machine.