Convergence?

When the professor started talking about "convergence" I will admit I was completely lost. I had no idea what he was talking about, even after the lecture was over. He kept reiterating that we needed to remember this word and its definition, but I didn't even know what that was! So I was slightly relieved when he told us to blog about it, which gave me a better understanding of what it really is.

So naturally, I Googled the word "convergence". The first link that showed up was "Welcome to CONvergence!" which is a "General SF convention held in the Twin Cities area in early July." Apparently it's a hotel that offers a ton of activities. I won't lie, it sounds like a lot of fun. But this didn't really solve my definition dillema. So I went to the next link which happened to be Wikipedia. Wikipedia offered two links to the word convergence. The first was a general definition of the word which is, "...the approach toward a definite value, a definite point, a common view or opinion, or toward a fixed or equilibrium state." The second link was to "technological convergence" which is, "...the tendency for different technological systems to evolve towards performing similar tasks.Convergence can refer to previously separate technologies such as voice (and telephony features), data (and productivity applications) and video that now share resources and interact with each other, synergistically creating new efficiencies."

The second one is the definition I think our professor wants us to remember. Now I understand that convergence is really just taking two seperate ideas and melting them together. Or moreover, taking different technological devices and creating one, big, new device that will bring in millions of dollars. If you haven't caught on by now, I'm referring to the infamous iPhone. Apple took iTunes and a full touch screen phone and morphed them together to get the iPhone. The phone is pretty much an iPod except it makes calls and allows texting. (Of course this is the example my teacher used, but hey, it was a good one.) That's a pretty smart idea, and it turned out to be a hit because millions of people were sold into the idea. I remember going to the mall opening day and there was a line from the Apple store all the way out the doors of the mall itself. That's incredible and insanly ridiculous. No offense, but I'd never stand in a line for a phone. Never, never, never. Not unless of course it does my homework for me and does all my errands. Then maybe in that case I'd be willing to sacrifice my entire day for a peice of technology.

But aside from my ranting there, convergence has caused a lot of useful and awesome technologies to emerge. The word can be complicated, but in essense it's pretty simple to understand. I know more things will come from convergence, and I'm excited to see what the next great idea will be.