Convergent and Divergent Product Technology
Every day we encounter different convergent and divergent products. Some people like the idea of a do everything Personal Digital Assistant, while others enjoy different products used for different things. Convergence can be defined as the occurrence of two or more things coming together. On the other hand, divergence is the tendency to move apart or evolve in different directions. In the instance of modern-technologies and their use in the information age, convergence and divergence play a large role in how new products are manufactured and marketed. There are many examples throughout history demonstrating the evolution of products in terms of convergence and divergence. Evolution of products leads to the current products on the market. These current products and historical trends of product evolution can give us an insight into what is in-store for the future of various forms of media. The dynamic innovations of convergent and divergent products continue to change throughout the information age.
We can gain an understanding of how current forms of convergent and divergent media have come to be through a tour of a brief historical retrospect. Early on, accessible public technology was limited to the radio, television, and telephone. Each form of media was known as a divergent product. People seemed rather content with this simple way of living and had no trouble doing one thing at a time. Perhaps the first known convergence was the TV dinner. Families could now multitask; they could watch television and eat their meal in front of the television. As humorous as this may seem as a form of technology, this way of thinking paved the way for modern convergent products. Not until technologies became available in the nineties did convergent products become the norm. With the development of the laptop, the cellular phone, and the walkman people started to understand the potential of transportable and compactable technologies. These early technological breakthroughs became more advanced and people demanded more features. In time, these features would transform divergent products into convergent products.
An evolution of convergent and divergent technologies has brought the market for divergent technologies into the information age. Soon, the radio could play cassettes and compact discs, the television could play VHS-tapes and DVDs, and the cellular phone can do just about anything. The laptop originated this convergent phenomenon with the competition of its size. Laptops became so small that they were deemed the name palm-pilot sometime in the mid-nineties due to the ability to fit in one’s palm.
Steve Jobs strove to deliver the elegant ideal. “People are busy”, he would say “they have other things to do than think about how to integrate their computers and devices.” And so, he took responsibility for the entire user experience, owning what he called “the whole widget”. Hardware, software and peripheral devices had to be seamlessly integrated. The leadership lesson here is to create products and service which reflect a passion for delivering delightful user experiences from beginning to end.
Convergence will continue based on technology and social media. Never in the world’s history has there been a time where technology has retracted. In the contemporary world, as technology becomes a more vibrant part of peoples’ lives as consumers, that forces marketing and public relations to become even more hand and hand than they already are. –Dr. Bod Batchelor
Jeff Hawkins a graduate of Cornell Universityis best known as “the inventor who, in 1994, took blocks of mahogany and plywood into his garage and emerged with a prototype for the PalmPilot” (PC Magazine, 2000). Joining forces with friend Donna Dubinsky, Jeff “pulled off one of the most successful new-product launches in consumer electronics history, selling 400,000 units when they debuted in 1996. Now Palm Computing owns 80% of the handheld market” (PC Magazine, 2000).
The world we live in is one of innovation and growth. Technology has expanded and grown significantly over the past several decades. At the forefront of this evolution is the media. Over the past several hundred years, the media has seen substantial growth. While print media has been a staple of society for many decades, the internet and other forms of media have revolutionized the way we receive information.
The invention of computers has made a huge change in human civilization and society, by changing the way people think. Computers replaced jobs and tedious repetitive thoughts that were done by human originally. People became more and more reliant on computers, and thus, computers became essential to our lives. Computers can manufacture products quickly, and eliminate possible human errors. As technology progresses, new ideas have been brought into computer to make them perform more efficiently. Also, scientists and engineers tend to make things “smaller”, so we can enjoy the benefits from electronic devices anywhere and anytime. Therefore, size and efficiency are two main points for consumers. Desktop computer and laptop computer are representatives for each of these concepts. Although desktops and laptops come from the same origin, they are different in many ways.
The narrator is constantly attempting to escape the racial profiling by everyone around him. The failure of this attempt is apparent by the inability to get rid of the broken pieces of the bank, which represents the inability to escape from the stereotypes he is affiliated with. The narrator repeatedly alludes to the fact that he is generalized because of his black heritage and therefore, invisible to society. This is especially clear when he finds the cast-iron bank. The bank is in the shape of a black slave with stereotyped features. The fact that it was a slave with a generous grin, eating coins, was demeaning. It frustrated the narrator that this was a comedic object, plainly made for the entertainment of white society at the expense of the black people. The fact that the bank is “a very black, red-lipped and wide mouthed negro” (Ralph Ellison, 319), ...
With celebrities all over the media, it is expected that some are idolized by their fans, especially the youths. There nothing wrong with people making celebrities their role models. Celebrity role models can be a positive influence by changing people’s lives and way of thinking for the better. On the other hand, when impressionable kids and teens see their celebrity role models do something that is not morally sound, they will come to think that it is acceptable making it more likely for them to do it. This raises the question: should celebrities be role models? For the most part no. Role models are people that are admired by others for their accomplishments and not their status; however, many celebrities
Born in the eighties, I entered a world of big hair and bad style. In the technological realm there were tape players, VCR’s, and fresh on the market: personal computers. Apple was domination the computer scene with their introduction of the Lisa computer. But not for long, soon computer technology would jump to unimaginable heights. As I grew up the technology around me would continue to grow and advance – quite rapidly I might add.
The world exists where people no longer wear just clothes, but a person wears a watch or a shirt that is always functioning and require a minimum of the wearer’s attention. Laptops are no longer need because with wearable computer on him why needs of a lab top. MIThril’s vision of this project is to provide our gifted society with a better way to computing. Laptops are the thing of the past; wearable computer is the step to the future.
Expansion of the technology trends hit the industry with another blow, consumers became “innovation-hungry”, constantly searching for new, cutting-edge products, which means a lot of investments in R&D for the industry players.
Gates and Allen soon got many opportunities to prove their computer skills. In 1972, they started their own company called 'Traf-O-Data.' They developed a portable computer that allowed them t...
Hence, any debate of the future becoming digital must take into consideration the reaction of the media to the technological innovations of the world, from the Personal Computers (PC) to the smallest Smartphone. Although mass media has increased with technological innovations, what driv...
computer. The electronic computer has been around for over a half-century, but its ancestors have been around for 2000 years. However, only in the last 40 years has it changed the American society. From the first wooden abacus to the latest high-speed microprocessor, the computer has changed nearly every aspect of people’s lives for the
The computer evolution has been an amazing one. There have been astonishing achievements in the computer industry, which dates back almost 2000 years. The earliest existence of the computer dates back to the first century, but the electronic computer has only been around for over a half-century. Throughout the last 40 years computers have changed drastically. They have greatly impacted the American lifestyle. A computer can be found in nearly every business and one out of every two households (Hall, 156). Our Society relies critically on computers for almost all of their daily operations and processes. Only once in a lifetime will a new invention like the computer come about.
fixture in everyday life then ever before, from housewives planning meals, to checking bank balances and paying bills, to looking up recipes. Children have the ability to do their homework, playing games and chatting to a friend on the internet. Business executives carrying PDA's, [personal digital assistants] with the ability to do their everyday business duties, from anywhere in the world that they may be at any time of the day or night.