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  • Non-convergence

    By Joshua Kim December 1, 2009 9:27 pm EST

    I'm sitting in Boston's Logan airport, enjoying the free Google WiFi (until January 15th), preparing to fly to San Diego for ECAR Symposium 2009: Disruption, Adaptation, and Evolution.

    For the trip I'm carrying a cell phone (Pantech Breeze - CNET calls ideal for "senior citizens and those with disabilities"), an iPod Touch, an iPod Nano, and a MacBook Pro. My backpack contains about 10 pounds of printed reports (mostly ECAR and EDUCAUSE publications), and a couple of Economist magazines. I'm carrying 3 power chargers across the country. I'm a picture of non-convergence.

    Here is my fantasy for convergence in 2010:

    1) The Small Screen: Yes, I know that today's smart phones can do everything that my current dumb phone, Nano, and Touch can do. But I like my small, tough, long-battery lasting flip phone with the physical keys. The iPhone just looks too big to run with. Each of my three handheld devices do a good job performing their discrete jobs. My Nano is mostly for audiobooks and podcasts. For the trip I've loaded up Googled: The End of the World as We Know It, by Ken Auletta. The Touch is a great way to quickly check e-mail, ready the NYTimes (whose iPhone/Touch App rules), and watch downloaded TED talks. The phone does nothing else but make calls (and maybe text). Will 2010 be the year that an all-in-one mobile convinces me to converge?

    2) The Big Screen: My big computer is a MacBook Pro. Great computer, but not a great e-book reader. Perhaps convergence of the laptop and the e-book is simply not meant to be. Like bagels and peanut butter. E-books require e-ink. I think it is crazy that I'm carrying around stacks of printed reports when a perfectly good PDF version exists. But I don't like reading on a computer screen, so I continue to print and carry paper. Maybe I should just settle for three devices (smart phone, laptop, and dedicated e-book reader). I'm hopeful that someone will come up with a combination netbook / e-book reader (maybe with two screens - including one that is e-ink), or that e-ink somehow gets good enough to replace the traditional LCD screen (Cringely thinks so).

    Do our students carry around so many devices and so much paper? Do you? Will 2010 (finally) be the year of convergence?

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Comments on Non-convergence

  • 3 chargers?!
  • Posted by Wmfxir , Dir ITMS at NJIT on December 2, 2009 at 10:15am EST

  • Joshua,

    3 chargers?!! First off, I would seriously consider an iPhone (or at least I would when they are available on a provider network other than AT&T). You are nearly there with the iPod Touch. Secondly, you only need 1 charger really, perhaps 2, as all of your devices seem able to charge through your MacBook Pro USB ports. ( Pantech Breeze chargers http://www.daydeal.com/home.php?cat=3776) All can use a standard USB charger cable. When I travel by car or rent a car at my destination I carry a USB car charger also.

    Enjoy your travels.

  • Not easy to converge
  • Posted by Barry Dahl , V.P. Technology at LSC on December 2, 2009 at 11:00am EST

  • I'm in much the same boat as you. Of course we can blame part of that on the various vendors who all force us to their proprietary stuff with different chargers, diff file formats, etc. etc. For me the biggest problem with converging more and more stuff onto my "smart" phone (not so smart) is that the battery life is so terrible when doing more than just sitting on standby waiting for a call to come in. I don't get a full day of use on a single charge, and I can drain the relatively new battery in a few hours when web surfing and performing other tasks. This week I'm going to try my first Kindle book for PC on my tablet running Windows 7. I'm not expecting the same experience as I would have with the (too expensive, IMO) Kindle, but maybe it will be good enough. I really don't want an e-book reader along with all my other devices (and vices).

  • Convergence
  • Posted by Angie Koponen , Assessment Coordinator at U of N CO on December 2, 2009 at 6:00pm EST

  • I feel for you. I'm resisting buying a reader because one netbook is enough. I wish I could turn my netbook into my reader, phone, and main computer. In particular I'd like to be able to carry around all the pdfs I need for my dissertation, back and forth from the office without extra equipment. I don't get a cell phone signal at the office, but it would sure be handy when I'm out. I can't see the tiny phone screen anyway and would like to have hands-off capability. I'd also like to keep one e-calendar, but so far have not been able to set up Outlook on my netbook. So, to solve the calendar problem I just bought a really beautiful desk calendar at my local Hallmark store. It's as much eye candy as functional calendar. I have looked into a new phone, but none really give me what I want. I guess I'll wait a while too before I adopt any new technology.

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