Convergence Culture

Unfortunately didn't make the lecture this week due to a huge pile up of assignments and tests that I'm sure all of you are feeling the wrath of! I've been doing a bit of research on the topic of RFIDs however and I've come across some interesting stuff... On wikipedia, (don't get me wrong, I know it isn't a reputable source but I checked the stuff out and its legit! :) ) I learnt about a microchip made by the VeriChip Corporation that can be implanted into humans to store their medical records including allergies, conditions etc. While this seems like a good idea since an implanted chip is virtually impossible to lose, preventing identity theft, because there are digital components to something like a chip, it can be illegally scanned by someone hacking into files and medical or insurance information could be stolen or misused. In addition to this, some people may have adverse reactions to the chip itself, experience burns from outside interference or even cancer. "Data suggests that up to 10% of the implanted lab animals developed malignant cancers originating in the tissue surrounding the microchip", which doesn't really sound like good odds to me...

So now onto convergence. For me, the point that the benefits of a product would outweigh the costs is if the cost of the new product was less than the total cost of the sum of products that it encompassed. For example if this new super-device cost less than my cellphone+ipod+laptop+television etc. and was reliable enough to perform better than all of these individually, THEN I might be interested!
As Lucy says, quality would be top priority. There would be nothing worse than the device crashing and you losing all of the devices in one bang! And as much as my phone, laptop and ipod crap out or freeze, this would have to be an amazingly reliable little machine (if I'm being honest, my laptop is pretty reliable. The only problem I've had with it was when I managed to delete my own hard drive -a little bit embarrassing when the technician realised what had happened to say the least...).
Durability would be essential because you would be using the device so much as there wouldn't really be any need for other devices. Also, I feel that the screen would need to be a good size because I would find it a little tedious having to check emails or watch clips on a screen as small as a cellphone screen.
If all these things could be combined, and I believe they will someday soon, we will definitely be hearing some new neologisms in the near future. I just wonder what on earth this new type of device will be called..!