Convergence Or Divergence?
Andy Abramson over at VoIP Watch points to an interesting piece about how there is some value in diverged devices, i.e. a device that’s good at fewer things rather than adequate at many. Which is right? I think they both are.
In a sense, even the most basic mobile phone Nokia sells is a converged device. Since I don’t have any of our current low-end phones, I’ll reach back into the back of my phone drawer and pull out my Cingular (now AT&T)-branded Nokia 3120, a small candybar phone from about 4 years ago. The phone was fairly cheap or even free with a two year contract. Even this phone includes many features:
- An address book (beyond just names and phone numbers)
- An alarm clock
- A (very basic) Internet browser
- A calendar (complete with reminders)
- A (basic) game machine. This particular phone has bowling, darts, Football (the American type), and a driving game.
- A 4-function calculator
- Stopwatch/Timer
- Voice recorder
- Instant Messaging
Of course, it’s primary function is as a phone, and it works well as that. But it has way more functionality than, say, my cordless phone at home, which is truly just a phone, except that it has a way to record speed dials.
Even a “converged” device that has a primary function, and it had better do that well. Therefore, I expect my Nokia N95 to function well as a phone. I think what separates, say, a Nokia N95 from a Nokia 3120 or similar phones is that the secondary function(s) are compelling, easy to use, and approaching the quality of a similar “unconverged” device that performs the same function.
Using the Nokia N95 as an example, the camera and the music player–two of the “secondary” functions of the N95 I use daily–aren’t as good in some ways as a standalone digital snapshot camera and a digital media player respectively, but they are good enough for my everyday use and they are always with me.
Because of this convergence, I don’t have to mess with multiple devices at places like the YMCA. I notice that other people are carrying about both a cell phone and their portable media player. Meanwhile, I have my Nokia N95 with me, which serves as both. My music player stops when an incoming call comes in. I don’t have to pick up another device, my headphones are in, and I can easily take a call without skipping a beat or missing a stride on the elliptical.
While I can talk about how great convergence is for me, or how great it might be for you, at the end of the day, it’s a matter of personal choice. Do you want to carry one device or many? What do you carry? Let me know in the comments!
Hello,
To make sure that you understand my stand point I would like to state first: I have an E70, I love it, and I use it in such a “converged way” that is probably far beyond what it had been intended by the designers of this device. (phone, camera- both photo and video(also in and under water), internet radio, ssh terminal, browser, mp3 player, I have literaly more than 100 applications installed, Flash content player, YouTube - emTube player, flash light in the dark, PDA, Note maker, document reader and editor, large txt file viewer (3rd party app.), movie player, gaming machine, skype voice and messaging terminal, VoIP voice terminal - Truphone, calendar, map, GPS terminal - with external GPS unit, portable storage device, etc… So you see I am a fan of convergence…
BUT,
Good to highlight this topic again and so great that you pulled that 4 year old phone out of the drawer, because it gives a perspective which has been often over looked when discussing convergence…
My opinion shortly: The philosophy of convergence is a good one, but poor planning and execution make people reconsider the value of convergence when it acctually leads to less than expected performance.
Convergenge would not be questioned today if the planning of converegence devices would have been better and if some marketing decisions would have not made converged devices look worse intentionally than they could be without those marketing choices!
A few examples of what I mean can be seen when you compare the features of your 4 years old phone and the N95. I do not only refer to the negative changes which are caused by the laws of physics, like all the fancy new energy consuming stuff GPS, stereo bluetooth, WLAN which kill the battery faster than a phone without these 4 years ago.
I am pointing to the following flaws and changes which I can only explain as bad planning or intentional marketing choices:
1. Voice recording 4 years ago: 5 minutes recording limit. (explainable by limited memory)
- voice recording on N95 1 minute… explainable by??? marketing decisions? With 3rd party app. unlimited.
2. Stop watch 4 years ago. Missing from the basic N95 package. Installable as separate application. Is there a free stop watch and/or count down timer for S60 V3? I found a Flash lite app…
3. “Favourites” menu where tens of applications could be accessed from the main screen was there 4 years ago and missing in N95.
etc…
I have a few more examples for bad planning - like too complicated interface -but these are just “extras” here as I think I made my point above…
Do not forget I am a fan of converegence, but if planning and marketing choices would be better, you could easier justify convergence…
Best Regards!
Aron
The ability to utilize these “extra features” in a converged device shouldn’t be hindered either by form factor or by user interface, which I think is a simpler version of what you said, and I was trying to say.
You describe the first move in convergence. What I expect is a convergence of functions between my phone (screen 2,5″), my laptop (13,3″) and my TV (70″). For example, I am watching a TV-show upon my phone in the bus. When I arrive at office, I want to see it on my laptop. And when I go back at home, I want to be able seamlessly to see it on my TV. That is for my the real convergence. Common UI and functions available in multiple places and screen sizes without thinking about.
I use a dedicated music player iPod shuffle. I like it because of the tiny size and weight. It’s very easy to use and serves the purpose very well.
What comes to photos I have a dSLR camera to take the shots when I want the best possible quality. However, I don’t have it with me every day. That’s why I’m waiting for my new phone N95 8GB to arrive. It will function as my pocket camera.
So it depends on the use case if I’m favoring convergence or not.
@nippotam: That’d be cool to have, for sure.
@TommiK: Use case is part of the convergence or divergence equation also, excellent point!
@nippotam: That’d be cool to have, for sure.
@TommiK: Use case is part of the convergence or divergence equation also, excellent point!
I’ve always had a very uncertain position when it comes to convergence. But at the moment I’m not happy with the over-segmentized mobile phone market. The devices are often oriented at a certain group thinking that therefore certain functions aren’t needed.
For instance, where is the phone for a person who travels the world, checks their e-mail, but isn’t a businessperson?
It’s not really about whether a device has some feature or not, but whether the device can be a real part of someone’s life. It’s about wether people can say they ‘love’ their whatsitsname.
And I don’t think, that for instance Nokia quite gets this yet.
@Mika I think it’s tricky to find the right balance of features and functionality for a given segment of the market. I don’t pretend to understand what goes into the decisions surrounding this, but I do know what I want: the best of an Nseries device with the QWERTY of an Eseries device. Whether I will get it or not, I can’t say. Even if I knew.