Tech Convergence

Henry Jenkins

As new technology is made cheaper, smaller, and more accessible, the developers of digital tools try to optimize their product. Simply put, stronger computers are being made so small and at such a low cost that new tech is able to do more than it could before. The combination of various kinds of technology into one more singular product is known as convergence. Cell phones, for example, are a prime example of convergence in progress. Their initial intent was to be able to make phone calls on the go, but modern cellphones have advanced far beyond that being their primary function. Instant messaging, texting, streaming videos, surfing the internet, playing games, taking photos or video, and a plethora of other functionalities are commonplace in the pocket of modern society. In fact, making phone calls, the intended function of a cell phone, isn't nearly as popular as the phone's other functions in today's society. Phone calls have been made obsolete by things like Skype applications or FaceTime.
In class, we read over and discussed a piece Henry Jenkins had written about convergence culture. Jenkins talks about the tech phenomenon that is various functionalities being combined together and eventually leading to one singular black box that is capable of performing all of the functions we would need from a piece of technology. This is known simply as the "Black Box Fallacy." During discussion, we touched upon how companies would actively market against such a thing in order to continue making money. The theoretical black box would likely be monopolized by one production company, but multiple products are easier to sell based on their lack of functionality. Apple, for example, sells iPhones, iMac computers, iPads, specialized iPods, and various accessories for each. In each products own right, they are capable of doing most of the functions of the other products, but are marketed as specializations to gather more attention and earn more revenue. The fallacy lies within our advancing technology leading toward one singular product, but our marketing system is actively avoiding such a monopoly for the sake of continuing with their steady/increasing income.
          Convergence doesn't just apply to technology, though the importance of tech still holds to more cultural convergence. In the interest of transition, we could take a look at media. Jenkins cites Warner Brothers and their reach over multiple media platforms, such as film, television, toys, and other forms of entertainment. A popular movie, for example, would eventually garner so much love and support that fans would demand more, perhaps in a separate medium. The movie might be made into a video game, which the company that owns the rights to the movie would oversee. That company might already own the rights to a book that the movie may have been based upon. Naturally, there might be toys made of characters in the movie. The expanding media forms centered on the initial idea would be overseen by the owners of that intellectual property. At some point, it would be easiest to own and control the companies that produce these other forms of media and converge into one singular being, like Warner Brothers that has complete control over all associated forms of media.
         There are, obviously, more forms of cultural convergence. For instance, Jenkins opens his piece commenting on the convergence of a children's show character being intermingled with a radical terrorist and how the resulting image gained traction. Overall, convergence applies to cultural phenomenon as well, and our class has opened a discussion amongst ourselves about forms of convergence and how we, as a society, react to it happening.