The tablet should be a device that does everything. I've said this before on these pages. But now I suppose I have to admit, on the day of the launch of the Apple iPad, that tablets are here, and they're also getting there.
"There" is a place where convergence happens and engagement results. And we're not there because convergence presents problems for media and device producers.
Convergence for media producers:
Convergence is something that happens at the device level. So: I can surf the Web on my kids' Playstation. Or I can do anything I like on my iPhone, or my HP Linux Mini. That's convergence.
Media producers don't understand this. They think convergence happens at the level of their sites and apps. If the New York Times adds video to its Web site, is that convergence? No, it isn't.
Convergence means the people who used to call themselves, for example, radio producers, get their audio, video and text to seamlessly join the flow of content that runs across a consumer's device. (Remembering the consumer is the publisher, not the old media company.)
Old media companies have yet to get beyond their own properties. They are still thinking about their Web sites and their apps. They are still too attached to old media models to understand what convergence is. They are in a condition of unenlightened ignorance. (Apologies for this generalization. I know there are enlightened old media staff out there. But ask yourself; isn't that right?)
Old media producers need to jump out of bed this morning, the morning of the launch of the iPad, and shout out into the street "convergence doesn't happen on my Web site, it happens on the device." The sound of enlightenment.
Convergence for device producers:
The trouble is convergence is perhaps harder to achieve on the device and anyone anticipated.
It's harder because of the variety of standards involved and harder because of competition between devices.
"There" is a place where convergence happens and engagement results. And we're not there because convergence presents problems for media and device producers.
Convergence for media producers:
Convergence is something that happens at the device level. So: I can surf the Web on my kids' Playstation. Or I can do anything I like on my iPhone, or my HP Linux Mini. That's convergence.
Media producers don't understand this. They think convergence happens at the level of their sites and apps. If the New York Times adds video to its Web site, is that convergence? No, it isn't.
Convergence means the people who used to call themselves, for example, radio producers, get their audio, video and text to seamlessly join the flow of content that runs across a consumer's device. (Remembering the consumer is the publisher, not the old media company.)
Old media companies have yet to get beyond their own properties. They are still thinking about their Web sites and their apps. They are still too attached to old media models to understand what convergence is. They are in a condition of unenlightened ignorance. (Apologies for this generalization. I know there are enlightened old media staff out there. But ask yourself; isn't that right?)
Old media producers need to jump out of bed this morning, the morning of the launch of the iPad, and shout out into the street "convergence doesn't happen on my Web site, it happens on the device." The sound of enlightenment.
Convergence for device producers:
The trouble is convergence is perhaps harder to achieve on the device and anyone anticipated.
It's harder because of the variety of standards involved and harder because of competition between devices.
So there are now a number of electronic books and pad-like devices, but some don't play audio or video, others are tethered or they're just plain slow.
And now there's the iPad, which hits the streets today but which apparently only runs one app at a time, like its older, smaller cousin, the iPhone. So when I listen to a radio station on the station's app I immobilize the device. That's not convergence. And it's not engagement.
Engagement is the ultimate goal, and the place where convergence happens, the device, is the place where engagement happens. That's because the device is the point of physical engagement.
But media producers, and now device producers both want to restrict or control what the publisher, that is the user, wants to publish on his/her device.
That limits convergence and engagement. We're not "there" yet.
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1 comment:
Good post, and I like the idea that the user is the 'publisher'. I think 'convergence' means different things to different people, and for a lot of media it means converging all your editorial staff into one hub. This is fine, but as you say there are two other elements that can be converged too: the end product (the all-singing, all-dancing multimedia NYT offerings) and the experience of the end user (or rather what the end user decides to mash together--radio in the background, watching video, updating Facebook, monitoring twitter, cross-posting to a blog etc). The idea of creating a device that lacks meaningful input and won't multitask, the iPad, seems to be a step forward only for those who think the first two definitions of convergence apply.
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