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In promising to fuse media as diverse as television, telephone communication,video games,music and data transmission, the era of digital convergence goes better than yesterday’s celebrated “information superhighway”. Yet achieving this single technology is far from straightforward.There are currently three major television broadcast standards, and they are all incompatible with each another.But this is nothing compared to the many technologies supporting the Internet, each with a different bandwidth and physical media.The problems faced in designing platforms and communication systems that will be accepted across the world can appear insuperable.
Even once global standards are assured,however,a further obstacle lies in wait.The Internet is plagued by long, erratic response times because it is a pull technology, driven by patterns of user demands. Push technology, on the other hand, reverses the relationship: servers simply send information to passive users, as in television and radio. But if some form of combination between one-way television flow and interactive Internet is to be the basis of our future media, it is hard to see how it could be operated. Moreover, the problem of fusing Internet with television is also one of defining the services offered. Information, entertainment and relaxation appear at first to be quite different needs. Serious doubts remain over whether consumers will be interested in having to make the sort of mental effort associated with computing while also settling down in front of a sitcom. Besides the issue of consumer habits, infrastructure costs are set to be immense, and will have to be met by national states or the private sector before being passed on to users.
Platform does not necessarily have to be expensive. The mobile phone is a good example of how something that is technologically sophisticated can almost be given away, with its cost recovered through service charges. Users are then coerced through clever marketing to upgrade to newer phones with more features to reinforce their dependence. Whatever the outcome, it is obvious that technology will play an increasing part in our everyday lives. Beyond technology, digital convergence embraces the services, industrial practices and social behavior that form modern society. We have in our hands the technology to construct the most sophisticated machines ever built, but if they are unusable, simply because of their operating instructions, then recent lessons have taught us they will not survive. Whatever we design must be simple, reliable and useful. Perhaps this is where artificial intelligence will come in.
1. By digital convergence, the author means.
A.diversification of the communication systems
B.separating entertainment and communication
C.integrating the various means of media
D.straightforward transmission of data
2. What is pull technology?
A.It is the Internet system affected by long, uncertain response times.
B.It is the way of business operation driven by user demands.
C.It is the technology to send information to passive users.
D.It is a way to blend one-way television with interactive Internet.
3. Why is it difficult to combine television and the Internet?
A.Because there are no global standards for the combination.
B.Because the two are operated on different principles of services.
C.Because television is unattractive, while the Internet is interactive.
D.Because the combination overlooks the consumers’ different needs.
4. As far as the cost for digital convergence is concerned,.
A.the expenses for building the basic facilities are too immense to be met
B.the infrastructures cost should be paid by national states and the private sector alone
C.the cost for building a platform can be recovered by collecting service charges
D.the high cost can be covered by effective marketing to attracts more customers
5. What may finally help to achieve digital convergence?
A.Designing platforms and communication systems with global standards.
B.Winning recognition from users who have different expectations for different media.
C.Developing a network advanced enough to support the integration of media.
D.Using artificial intelligence to design simple, reliable and useful products.
