PDF of this tutorialThe Technology of Convergence
The primary driver of convergence of different forms of information is technological change, primarily the rapid diffusion of digital technology into an ever-wider array of information businesses. Beyond digitization, dramatic changes in the computing and telecommunications industries (primarily in faster microprocessors and increasing bandwidth) are also driving convergence. We examine each of these in turn.
Digitization
| With digitization, all of the media become translatable into each other—computer bits migrate merrily—and they escape from their traditional means of transmission. . . . If that's not revolution enough, with digitization, the content becomes totally plastic—any message, sound, or image may be edited from anything into anything else. —Stuart Brand |
Historically, information was created, stored, manipulated, and transformed by its form. Textual information existed mostly as hard copy or as metallic templates used by printers to make copies. Audio information existed mostly as analog waveforms, captured on vinyl or magnetic tape. Still and moving images were rendered in chemical form; later on, moving images shifted to analog form through the development of videotape technology. Only computer-based information existed as precise digital data.
The digital world is characterized internally by a monotonous sameness; regardless of what they represent, constellations of zeroes and ones remain just that to the computer. As more and more content is digitized, the computer virtualizes it and liberates it from most of the shackles of its previous medium.
Over time, the computer industry has developed numerous technologies to store and manipulate digital data. Digital information is essentially distortion-free, perfectly and infinitely replicable, instantly transportable (given fiber, cable, and future communication bandwidths), highly translatable, inherently editable, readily amenable to various forms of processing, and compatible with other forms of digital information.
