We love digital convergence! (Or rather I do.)
(I hate blogger because it shuts me down while I was writing. Now, I have to rewrite and I forgot what I've written just now. T_T)Time is changing so rapidly that technology is used as a tool of convenience to get information fast. Our handphones and the Internet are but the most obvious inventions that many of us are dependent on. Education, socializing, shopping, entertainment, information sourcing can now be done with a click of the mouse. Digital convergence is not a thing of the future, it has already happened.
But how has digital convergence affect traditional media? How has it changed our society and the way we live?
Let's take the newspapers for an example. In the past, how we get news on world affairs is when we open our door and we find The Straits Times on the floor. We then read whatever is written on the paper. And if we are greedy for more information, we buy other papers like Lian he zhao bao or The New paper. Think about it, by the time we get our papers, events that happened were a day old. Maybe even two days old.
In a world where we need information fast, waiting for the news boy to deliver the papers isn't the best solution. With the amazing Internet, we can now find out what is happening at the other end of the world at 3 am in the morning by reading overseas and local news sites at the same time. We are not constrained by time, place and even money. The Internet allows you to choose the news and the paper. (Without staining your fingers, can't get better than that!)
Will this, however, threaten the newspaper companies? We no longer need the hard copy, but our PDAs to have access to current affairs. I don't see this as impossible. Instead of paying 80 cents for the papers, we may soon need to pay for a subscription fee to read news online. I would like to use The New York Times (because I read it daily XD) as a model example of an interactive online news site. Not only do they have the usual news, but they offer videos, pictures, podcasts, blogs, a mobile site, and even an option for you to personalize the way you want your news. People are no longer just reading, they want it personalized.
For me, I think digital convergence has not only brought convenience, but also customization. Why else do you think we can choose when to watch our favourite shows (DemandTV), listen to music we want to hear (MP3 Players), how we want to communicate with our friends (MSN Messenger, Friendster and even blogs) and even how we want to shop (Amazon)?
I came across a nice quote: "i" Pod therefore "i" am. In a world where whoever holds the information holds power, can we say that all the 'I's in the world (that's you and me) can control what we want to see and hear? (Am I digressing? I hope I'm not. o_O)
With digital convergence, we decide what, when and how we want to get information and communicate. Is it a bad thing? Every coin has two sides. Let's just conclude that humans have become lazier by being stuck to a thing called the Internet.
devon
posted by ShiNeX @ 1:51 AM
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