I've seen the word 'convergence' banded about the blogosphere for quite some time now, and although I know what they are getting at, I have never really known the exact meaning of the word, so I thought I would do some digging. Not only to find out what the word is, but also to find out if my N95 has some of these 'convergences' built into it, next to the WiFi antenna, but behind the battery.
A quick flash across the keyboard to the behemoth that is Google, and we get to the Wikipedia page dedicated to our destination text.
Wikipedia states that convergence "denotes the approach toward a definite value, as time goes on; or to a definite point, a common view or opinion, or toward a fixed or equilibrium state".
Fair enough.
It also says that to be more specific it needs to have a context behind it. For this we need to look to 'technological convergence', and then it all starts to make sense....... refers to a trend where some technologies having distinct functionalities evolve to technologies that overlap, i.e. multiple products come together to form one product, with the advantages of each initial component.
So there we have it. In laymans terms, it means how many goodies can we fit under the hood of the N95, and work just as well as they would as individual goodies.
As time has evolved in the mobile phone industry, I think I had not realised how much I rely on my phone (I can't really call the N95 just a phone, but we will do for now) for more an more tasks. I was brought down to earth with a bump a couple of weeks ago, when during a firmware update my N95 decided to lose the will to live, and died in my arms. That meant a full 24 hours without my precious soul-mate. I only happened to have 2 phones lying around to stand-in, one was an iPhone, and the other was an old 6230 (which in mobile life terms, was from the stone-age!). So I swapped over to the iPhone, yes? Nope! The iPhone just plain irritates me, and everyone always wants to 'have a look' at it.
So, the 6230 gets plugged in to 'juice up' and we are on our way. Sure, the 6230 calls and texts people just as well as the N95, although that is where the similarities just about end.
I only have a 2Gb memory card in my N95, but it has all my favourite music on at any particular point in time, and it is always my main source of entertainment when either at the gym, or going out for a run. I used to use my 2nd generation iPod all the time, but now I have an N95, it never sees the light of day. So here we have my first case of convergence. My N95, have made my iPod redundant.
That was an easy clear cut case of convergence. I have jotted down a list of the main things I use my phone for, and looking at them, the rest are not quite so clear cut.
Camera - Sure my N95 is damn good at taking photo's, but my Fujifilm S6500fd is better. However, the 6500fd is not with me all the time, so therefore also has it's drawbacks. In terms of convergence, we are some of the way there, but unlike the iPod, the 6500fd is not gathering dust just yet.
It is the same situation with many other things too. Internet - Sure I can get on the internet with my N95, but it does not deliver an, as rich, experience as my laptop. Calender - I put all my appointments in my N95, and it nags me when I forget about them, but I also keep a diary on my desk, as it is good to scribble notes in, and be able to see things at a glance. Video recording - good, but not able to replace a camcorder. The list goes on.
I think as a whole, we have made a good dent into the aim of producing a converged device. The N95 in particular, shows just how far we have come in terms of what is possible in an everyday phone, compared to one just a couple of years old. For the 24 hours I used the 6230, literally the only thing I could do was voice and SMS. Almost nothing else was possible.
Should we even call it a mobile phone in general conversation anymore? It's not just a phone, thats for sure. Multimedia computer? Handheld converged device? Can you imagine blurting that out down the pub?
Mobile phone it is.
For now.
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