What is Digital Convergence?
Digital convergence is the latest and greatest techno-buzzword. It promises us a world where all our disparate consumer electronics and personal computing devices coexist peacefully, communicate, and seamlessly integrate to serve all our entertainment and informational needs. This begs the question: When will it arrive?
Some convergence is so intuitive that it's hard to imagine it not happening. Combining complementary services into a single device, such as a cell phone that can also do messaging and send e-mail, is a prime example. The result is a communications device that provides us with access to the main ways we already communicate.
Other ideas aren't as straightforward; they cater to lifestyle choices rather than marrying similar technologies. Merging a mobile phone and a digital camera is one such example. This isn't a combination that necessarily leads you to question how you ever lived without it; it's more of a "that's so neat" reaction.
The vision of many companies including Sony, Apple, and Microsoft is a convergence of our computer and home entertainment system into a do-every-thing, one-box solution. Functions of these now separate devices will be available through one device or system, presumably built around our televisions or home theaters.
Right now these systems inhabit different parts of our homes and lives. Combining the two may not necessarily be as harmonious an arrangement as the technology pundits would have us believe. One major issue seems to elude the pro-convergence crowd: Multiple family members usually simultaneously share home entertainment systems, but a computer is a one-person-at-a-time deal. When was the last time everyone in your house sat down and surfed the Web together or worked on a Word document as a group?
In some form, a desktop PC will remain a standalone personal computing device. We may see smarter consumer electronics that have overlapping abilities or integrate seamlessly with our computer, but the PC still has a lot of life in it.
Manufacturers are just starting to take the first steps towards integrating more functions into smart entertainment devices or digital media hubs. In the next few years, we'll see more entertainment options repackaged and improved. This will be an example of the first type of convergence: combining complementary services and features into one device.
One of the first examples of this idea is the combination of a personal video recorder (PVR) and a cable/satellite set-top box. This synergy makes absolute sense, the sort of "why didn't they think of that before" technology we need to see more of. Companies like Sony are looking to build on this success by packing even more features into a PVR.
Sony unveiled its first big step towards digital convergence with the PSX, which combines a PVR, digital music player, DVD player, and game console into one device. The PSX also has a DVD-R drive and accepts Sony Memory Sticks so that you can view photos on your television.
To meet the lofty goals that manufacturers set for themselves, future-convergent devices, or media hubs, will have to offer an improvement over current systems, particularly in the following areas. Consider this my "convergence manifesto":
- Enhanced, "smart" control and management. Future-convergent systems should allow for intuitive scheduling of tasks, efficient management, and ease of use. Current systems don't learn from your actions and can't determine your needs without you programming them.
- The ability to learn your viewing habits and record programming that you would most likely record yourself. This way if you forget to record an episode of your favorite show, or if it switches timeslots or channels, your PVR will know you like it, find it, and record it so you don't miss it.
- The ability to search connected devices and networks to retrieve relative information for you based on your viewing and listening habits. If you always watch the Los Angeles Lakers, for instance, agent software on future smart devices might collect news reports (video and Web) about the team and save them for you to view when it's convenient for you. Convenient storage, with larger disk drives to accommodate a wider range and amount of content. A convergent device should have room for all your digital media such as movies, games, photos, and music, and an intuitive interface for storing and backing these files up.
- A convenient upgrade path. Something better always comes out a few months down the road. Manufacturers need to make enhanced and new services available to consumers through easy software upgrades or through a simple system of hardware expansions. For example, the Sony PlayStation 2 has an expansion port that allows you to install a plug-and-play hard disk module or a broadband Internet modem. Future devices should offer a similar modular upgrade path.
Undoubtedly, there will be false starts as manufacturers design and produce the first generation of convergent systems. However, if early products are any indication, convergence may actually become a pleasant reality, rather than vaporware.
Can I get my local channels on satellite TV? In most areas of the USA you get your local channels for free with any DIRECTV package, while DISH Network charges five dollars. In the few areas where you can’t get local stations you can hook up an antenna to your satellite TV receiver.