Media convergence is used every second of the day and night – Some people could be using it and be completely oblivious to the evolution of the technology. Media and technology convergence if fast growing and is going to stop anytime soon; so what is media/technology convergence? Media/technology convergence is when existing technologies come along and merge together to create new forms of different types of technology or media products.
A good example of media/technology convergence is the iPod touch created by Apple. The iPod touch allows you to take pictures, record video, use the Internet, listen to music, watch films, and play games, read books and a lot more. In the past we had technologies which also preformed these tasks but belonged in a single piece of technology such as; the camera which allowed us to take photos, the walkman which allowed us to listen to music, the VHS player which allowed us to watch films and videos.
If a product can offer more convergence than another piece of technology it will be increasingly attractive to consumers and will also force competing companies to further develop their products to be better. Taking the Kindle by Amazon for example, this started off as a black and white eBook Reader; now today it’s in colour, it has a keyboard and you’re also able to download newspapers and browse the Internet with it compared to other eBook readers which only allow you to perform the singular task of reading books. [1]
If a product can offer more convergence than another piece of technology it will be increasingly attractive to consumers and will also force competing companies to further develop their products to be better. Taking the Kindle by Amazon for example, this started off as a black and white eBook Reader; now today it’s in colour, it has a keyboard and you’re also able to download newspapers and browse the Internet with it compared to other eBook readers which only allow you to perform the singular task of reading books. [1]
Examples of Digital Media/Technology Convergence
The exciting technology of today is fast, reliable and efficient. Consumers want technology which last long so they can performs tasks of their daily lives as they commute from places or socialise. Part of these tasks involve recording video, taking photos, sending emails, staying organised, taking notes, texting, making phone calls, playing games, listening to music, socialising and the virtual possibilities are endless. Below I will be writing about three different examples of media and technology convergence, how they have changed media job roles, how they make money, how they attract to the audience and what the audience expect from the technology today.
The Smartphone Development
The technology surrounding devices we call mobile phones is constantly changing. Inventors Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray both designed a device which could transmit speech electrically in the 1870’s. The two men both raced to the patent office which Alexander Graham Bell had reached first resulting in a famous legal battle between both inventors of the respective design of the telephone. Alexander Graham Bell had won the battle and now the telephone today is advancing faster than ever. The first sentence transmitted with the telephone was by Alexander Graham Bell who called his assistant who was in the room next door and he said “Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you.” [3]
The technology has ever since advanced, has become portable and has never stopped growing. Today we can use our fingerprint ID to unlock our phones. Our mobile devices help us so much in everyday life that we can now call it a Smartphone. The Smartphone has converged with a ton of technology and media. We can talk to our Smartphone as a personal digital assistant, an example of this can be found in an Android Smartphone called Google Now, where you can ask and talk to your phone and it will help you. Smartphone’s are built in with Wi-Fi, GPS, touch screens, high-definition cameras, mobile-broadband and the rapid development of mobile apps allows Smartphone’s to advanced further and be a better product for the consumer. [5]
The technology has ever since advanced, has become portable and has never stopped growing. Today we can use our fingerprint ID to unlock our phones. Our mobile devices help us so much in everyday life that we can now call it a Smartphone. The Smartphone has converged with a ton of technology and media. We can talk to our Smartphone as a personal digital assistant, an example of this can be found in an Android Smartphone called Google Now, where you can ask and talk to your phone and it will help you. Smartphone’s are built in with Wi-Fi, GPS, touch screens, high-definition cameras, mobile-broadband and the rapid development of mobile apps allows Smartphone’s to advanced further and be a better product for the consumer. [5]
How has the Smartphone changed media job roles?
The Smartphone has changed our everyday lives. It has also changed media. We can now perform tasks such as emailing someone with a notification to come to a film-shoot on the spot; we can even control some camera rigs with our phone and a app using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connectivity. If you are at a graphic or web design meeting, professionals can use Smartphone’s during it to take notes of the project brief, they can even use it as a recording device to get everything that has been spoken about on audio for later reference. They can be used later to make notes into professional word documents with apps designed for word editing, excel spreadsheets and presentations or be sent to someone in various ways including text message, instant messaging apps, social media or email all with the same device. Some Smartphone’s come with the handy pen, with amazing touch capabilities it’s the same as writing pen on paper. You can use that built-in technology not only for signing papers but for even planning out your artwork or preproduction for films and web design. People in the music industry to make people hear their newly made creation through any universal headphones or they can listen to existing music or even just play it out loud with the built-in speakers or external ones. So everything we do in media can easily involve a Smartphone from playing music samples, watching films, surfing the internet all the way to connecting to a computer to transfer files.
How does Smartphone’s generate income and attract audience?
There are so many Smartphone’s to choose from, people can’t choose between some so they look for what’s affordable, stylish and has desirable features such as a high definition camera. Using the Apple iPhone as an example to explain how Smartphone’s make profit from selling the device to how they continue generating revenue. The Apple iPhone 5 cost approximately $167.50 to build, the camera cost around $10 and the battery rounds up to around $3. The Apple iPhone is relatively cheap and affordable to make, but they make a huge profit when they sell it for the chunky price tag of $649.99! [7] That’s a profit of approximately 285%.
Below you can see a visualisation diagram of the iPhone 4S, how much it cost to build compared to the £500 price tag they started at. [8]
Below you can see a visualisation diagram of the iPhone 4S, how much it cost to build compared to the £500 price tag they started at. [8]
So as the iPhone easily makes profit from selling the device alone it can continue to make profit with the application store. The Apple application store generates billions of dollars, with an approximate gross of $47K per day [9]. People are recognising the business profit potential in app making and it is growing ever so fast. Apple only takes 13% of what app developers make from selling an application and successful apps have proven to make millions of dollars. So imagine 13% from million dollars for having somebody create an app for your device and to have it in your application store, that’s $130,000 and now times that by the thousands of apps being developed and sold in your store.
So it’s what a Smartphone has which attracts consumers, now they’re looking for what’s better. A huge selling point in a phone is the camera; a good camera is always a tick in the consumers’ book. The Samsung Galaxy Zoom can generate income by attracting consumers with the all new amazing digital camera capabilities of a compact camera it has, it also has the optical zoom to get great quality pictures. Now consumers can choose to buy a normal camera or a camera which comes with all the capabilities of a Smartphone.
So it’s what a Smartphone has which attracts consumers, now they’re looking for what’s better. A huge selling point in a phone is the camera; a good camera is always a tick in the consumers’ book. The Samsung Galaxy Zoom can generate income by attracting consumers with the all new amazing digital camera capabilities of a compact camera it has, it also has the optical zoom to get great quality pictures. Now consumers can choose to buy a normal camera or a camera which comes with all the capabilities of a Smartphone.
What do the audience expect from the Smartphone?
What do you expect from a Smartphone today could totally be different to what you expected the last week because technology is racing, things are being released so rapidly, you can now unlock your phone using fingerprint ID or facial recognition. So what do the audience expect from their new Smartphone.
Throughout the years the creation of mobile phones has changed, consumers want something strong, sleek and light. Stainless steel and phones carved out from one piece of aluminium sounds very desirable to the consumers of today.
- Tracking capabilities to find the phone if ever lost.
- GPS enabled with satellite navigation.
- Wi-Fi and Mobile Broadband connectivity to browse the internet and download.
- A talking phone assistant.
- A high definition camera capable of recording high quality videos.
- Being able to create and edit documents and presentations.
- Basic phone functions such as text messaging and calling.
- Advanced phone functions such as camera chats, picture and audio texting.
- A large capacity of storage.
- A long battery life.
- A large HD touch screen.
- A gyroscope to detect mechanical rotation and shakes.
Throughout the years the creation of mobile phones has changed, consumers want something strong, sleek and light. Stainless steel and phones carved out from one piece of aluminium sounds very desirable to the consumers of today.
The Video Gaming Console
The gaming console is a computer designed to play games with a dedicatedly designed control pad. To use a gaming console you need a television. These both are singular tasks performed by one technology. The video gaming console was first invented in the 1950s and has evermore continued to evolve [11]. Early consoles had large cartridges containing the game data which can be inserted into the gaming console to play the 2D games programmed and designed into it. With not many buttons to choose from games were relatively easy but much fun due to the innovating technology at the time.
Today the gaming console has converged with many different media and technologies. The latest gaming consoles such as the Playstation can be used to browse the internet, catch-up on TV shows, watch films online, to visit social media sites, to message friends and to mainly play high definition games with amazing graphics. We can use optical media to play our games now which means it’ll be smaller, faster and much more efficient.
Furthermore the Playstation offers a very desirably attractive Blu-ray player. More people would buy the Playstation Blu-ray player because it comes with the bonus features, so if they one day fancy playing a game, they can just put it in.
Gaming consoles allows us to socialise with friends physically and virtually as it allows you to play online against or with a random person or friend.
Gaming consoles can generate income from selling the gaming box; they can also generate income from when consumers use the internet because search engines can pay per search for Sony letting them be on their gaming platform. Playstation does not make a huge amount from their consoles although they do make a chunk of profit from the games they sell and downloadable content they have in the Playstation store.
The XBOX generates profit by making consumers pay £30-60 a year for online gaming, the good side to this is that the connectivity and game play online stays up to a good quality and standard.
Today the gaming console has converged with many different media and technologies. The latest gaming consoles such as the Playstation can be used to browse the internet, catch-up on TV shows, watch films online, to visit social media sites, to message friends and to mainly play high definition games with amazing graphics. We can use optical media to play our games now which means it’ll be smaller, faster and much more efficient.
Furthermore the Playstation offers a very desirably attractive Blu-ray player. More people would buy the Playstation Blu-ray player because it comes with the bonus features, so if they one day fancy playing a game, they can just put it in.
Gaming consoles allows us to socialise with friends physically and virtually as it allows you to play online against or with a random person or friend.
Gaming consoles can generate income from selling the gaming box; they can also generate income from when consumers use the internet because search engines can pay per search for Sony letting them be on their gaming platform. Playstation does not make a huge amount from their consoles although they do make a chunk of profit from the games they sell and downloadable content they have in the Playstation store.
The XBOX generates profit by making consumers pay £30-60 a year for online gaming, the good side to this is that the connectivity and game play online stays up to a good quality and standard.
What do the audience expect from video gaming consoles?
Using knowledge from XBOX, Wii and Playstation here’s what you should expect from a gaming console:
- A controller with: 6-axis motion sensing, a monitor, rechargeable and wireless.
- Fast start-up speeds and quick game loading.
- Fast downloads on games and downloadable content.
- Internet browser.
- Online film and television show applications.
- DVD and Blu-ray players.
- Attachable external ports for gaming extensions such as the Kinect by Microsoft for XBOX to play games via the camera and motion.
- A huge selection of games from any genre.
How has the video gaming console changed the media job roles?
With new innovating technology the process of creating video game consoles have changed, it’s no longer only requires a game mechanical wizard and game designers, with the massive amount of media convergence packed in the new generation of game consoles need application designing specialists, online server technicians, electrical wizards, social media gurus, online security workers, people to work for the online store and so many more specialists all to build the platform which can do virtually anything because that’s what consumers want today.
Social Media
Social media sites are really popular and it is estimated that if Facebook was a country it would be third largest ever. Facebook has an estimated 750,000,000 unique monthly visitors and is the most popular social media website. Twitter is slowly catching up with an estimated 250,000,000 unique visitors per month and an estimated of 9,100 tweets per second. [13] [14] Social media is a media convergence because you can play games, instant message, upload and share images, embed videos, share links to other websites, connect with friends, share videos and advertise on.
How has the social media changed media job roles?
Social media, every company should have a page on a social media website because it contains almost all their audience in there. They can partner with social media websites and pay to reach their advertisements to audience so each user gets a unique advertisement to them.
Social media can use social media websites to conduct surveys and polls to see what exactly their target audience wants. They can also create a page for people to follow where they can get the latest updates, stories and competitions from the company. When somebody likes a photo it shows up on the news feed and that means more people can see the page making it able for the page to grow in number of like.
Social media can use social media websites to conduct surveys and polls to see what exactly their target audience wants. They can also create a page for people to follow where they can get the latest updates, stories and competitions from the company. When somebody likes a photo it shows up on the news feed and that means more people can see the page making it able for the page to grow in number of like.
How does this converging media product generate income?
Social media can generate income through verifying apps which developers will pay around $375 for meaning when it’s verified it can also be featured to audiences [15]. People can pay for advertisement along the side of Facebook and it will smartly select who can see the advert. Facebook will decide upon what films, books, activities etc you like and the location of where you are and place you’ve been. You can also choose the age group to whom you are aiming the advertisements at.
Twitter is a micro blogging social media website worth $10 billion. Twitter generates income from people paying to advertise their tweets on top and being promoted to gain more followers, Twitter also gives advertisers the ability to target specific groups of users. Although twitter hasn’t got as many users as Facebook it isn’t a disadvantage because twitter users are constantly active and tweeting compared to the check-ins to Facebook every now and then. [16] Twitter is expected to make an approximate revenue of $399,600,000 in 2013 from advertising. [17]
Twitter is a micro blogging social media website worth $10 billion. Twitter generates income from people paying to advertise their tweets on top and being promoted to gain more followers, Twitter also gives advertisers the ability to target specific groups of users. Although twitter hasn’t got as many users as Facebook it isn’t a disadvantage because twitter users are constantly active and tweeting compared to the check-ins to Facebook every now and then. [16] Twitter is expected to make an approximate revenue of $399,600,000 in 2013 from advertising. [17]
How has Social Media attracted new audiences?
Social media is attracting new audience everyday because it allows them to socialise online when they are away from friends physically, to update people on what they are doing, to broadcast announcements, to share pictures, to talk to people on webcam, to send out quick instant messages, to play games and to even create polls for surveys. For people in business they may create a page or profile to advertise and connect to their audience and therefore hopefully generating more revenue in what they’re doing in business in.
What do the audience expect from social media websites?
People having some privacy concerns and issues in the past with social media websites should see a fix and should expect the following from it:
- Having a profile which allows you to have a picture, biography and show what your likes are.
- Ability to share videos, music, photos and other links.
- Being able to play games on the platform or even create games for it.
- Being able to instant message.
- Abilities to update statuses.
- Abilities to advertise and choosing your specific target audience.
How has Social Media changed media job roles?
Social media isn’t just a website with a name and a place to put your profile picture and look at other peoples profile anymore.
Social media has opened up jobs for app designers to work how the app looks and developers to make the app work. It has opened up doors in many areas and concentrates on small details such as creating a chat interface, designing the search bar, making the search work and job roles for making the business pages work. Also for a huge trafficking on social media site like Facebook, it means they need a lot of servers and that also means having a lot of server technicians to keep it floating.
One man is no longer in charge of making the popular social media site, with the help of designers and developers the social media sites can become much more attractive and faster. Programs such as Adobe Dreamweaver can get you started although wouldn’t be helpful in the long term. Developing your own dashboard and user interface for admin hidden away from the real domain can really help when editing the social media site.
Social media has opened up jobs for app designers to work how the app looks and developers to make the app work. It has opened up doors in many areas and concentrates on small details such as creating a chat interface, designing the search bar, making the search work and job roles for making the business pages work. Also for a huge trafficking on social media site like Facebook, it means they need a lot of servers and that also means having a lot of server technicians to keep it floating.
One man is no longer in charge of making the popular social media site, with the help of designers and developers the social media sites can become much more attractive and faster. Programs such as Adobe Dreamweaver can get you started although wouldn’t be helpful in the long term. Developing your own dashboard and user interface for admin hidden away from the real domain can really help when editing the social media site.
Content Sources
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- http://www.unlockunit.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/samsung-galaxy-s4-zoom.jpg
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- http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/social-networking/information/how-social-networking-sites-make-money1.htm
- http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/09/12/twitter_ipo_social_network_files_for_initial_public_offering_of_stock.html
- http://www.statisticbrain.com/twitter-statistics/
