The reading “Media Convergence: Networked Digital Media in Everyday Life” by Meikle & Young talked about media convergence which is basically the coming together of media content, computer hardware & software and communications.  ITunes is the example chosen by the reading to illustrate this but I would go one step further and say the IPhone, Androids and other mobile phones really capture the idea of media convergence.  Imagine this scene you’re a passenger on the train and you want to listen to music so you take out your Mp3 player, then you have an urge to watch a movie so you take out your portable DVD player but all of a sudden you feel your cell phone starts to  vibrate so now you take that out.  I know it’s a very scary scene but that was probably what it was like for someone who wanted to be tech savvy in 1999.  Today we take the train and we can make a call, check your social networks, listen to music, watch a video and browse the web all on the same device.

Another theme of the reading is that individuals may build new technology but it is society that decides its purpose.  One example the reading gives is that when the phone was invented it was marketed for business it wasn’t until after the masses got a hold of it that its social impact was realized.  Even twitter which was originally invented to get messages out to friends, but twitter as helped to accelerate the Egyptian revolution and at times it is the fastest way to get relevant news.  I don’t think even the creators of twitter could of foresaw this coming.

When it comes to my own personal use of media, I tend to be all over the place. For video of course I use Netflix, I also have a lot of TV apps like ABC, NBC, ESPN and many more.  If I want to watch live TV I just use the Optimum app on my IPad, it’s also able to control my DVR.  For music I tend to use Spotify to listen and I use either iTunes or the Google play store to purchase/download music.