Week 6.2 - CONVERGE

“In the world of media convergence, every important story gets told, every brand gets sold, and every consumer gets courted across multiple media platforms.” (Jenkins, 2006, p3)

It’s hard to imagine a world without convergent technology. I’m from a generation that brew up with the early stages of modern computers and mobile phones. I remember when Dad got a Palm Pilot and though it was the coolest thing ever... It didn’t even have wifi!

So according to our mate Jenkins, media convergence is “the flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behaviour of media audiences” (2006, p2). In effect we haven’t been thrust into convergence culture like our older counterparts, but it has slowly infiltrated our lives, or flowed. As we were learning new things about the world, new technology came with it and we hardly batted an eye.

To show how completely oblivious people were back in the day of the effect computers would have on the world I have two quotes for you (bare in mind, the computers they’re talking about took up large halls and buildings). It was the chaiman of IBM, Thomas Watson, back in 1943 who stated "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."

And then of course: "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977.

Oh how naive they were! In the tute we spoke about how convergence affected our working life. Many of us told examples of being on holiday and wanting to check our emails, or the fading line between work and play time.

I think back to those futuristic films like The Fifth Element, where Bruce Willis can’t drive anymore because his license has expired and the car won’t work without enough points on his license (which he inserts into the car itself, doesn’t have to go to the RTA or anything). Or Eagle Eye, where a supercomputer uses all connecting devices (e.g. CCTV camera’s, wifi, ATMs, mobile phones, etc) to put into motion steps to kill off what it deems corrupt government personnel, through the likes of Shia Labeouf. Or even Back to the Future II! When Marty McFly gets fired through his television! But that’s a little morbid.

I’m not going to complain about convergence culture, it’s definitely cool, but I worry how far we will go before we can’t control it, before everything is connected and we devolve again into users, not produsers. It’s sad to think that in an age where we have more freedom to move and engage we find ourselves shackled more tightly to those things that keep us connected.

Jenkins, H. (2006). 'Worship at the altar of convergence: A new paradigm for understanding media change'. In H. Jenkins, Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide (pp 1-24). New York: New York University Press.