It's all software

Sometimes a concept can be so oversold and oft-repeated that it loses its impact. The convergence of consumer electronics is one of those concepts. We have been told for several years how everything will come together, but the promised synergy between electronic devices has been slow in coming. Now it has finally arrived, and the first elements of the advance guard were on display at this year's Consumer Electronic Show.

This year's Consumer Electronic Show demonstrated that the long-promised age of convergence is finally here.

We have been calling music “software” for some time now, ever since it was established that music could be digitally encoded and stored. Now everything is software. Books, music, movies, speeches, financial data, art, homework, technical drawings, 3-D designs, illustrations, blueprints, and even sculpture can be stored, manipulated, transmitted, and displayed digitally. A removable memory platform can hold multiple file types, often simultaneously. Your CompactFlash camera can hold photos as well as sound files; your Zip drive can hold video shorts along with your homework; and your CD burner can copy music along with game files. Cameras can now have MP3 players incorporated, watches come with digital cameras inside, and your car can hold more processing power than NASA used during the entire Apollo program. The promised convergence of electronic systems is finally making itself evident. This year's CES was full of devices and services directly targeting that philosophy. Smaller, higher-density storage systems such as the award-winning DataPlay optical disk storage system, high-bandwidth transmission systems such as the new PanelLink AV standard, high-powered processors like the Pentium 4, and processors targeting mobile apps like the Transmeta Crusoe are bringing power and flexibility into every type of platform. The box itself is becoming less important while the application is becoming the defining characteristic of a device. Soon, the only difference between your TV set, phone, computer, car stereo, and refrigerator will be in the user interface. The personal computer as a desktop box will soon be obsolete, but the application of a personal computer will never be. It will become much less platform-specific, however. Your TV will be your telephone will be your computer will be your game machine will be your VCR will be whatever you need to perform whatever task you require at the time. For example, in a series of audio receivers, the only real difference between the low-end model and the high-end model may be the front panel, allowing users incremental access to the various capabilities as they move up the product line, with little or no difference in the circuitry inside. This will occur more and more often, as it becomes easier to simply design a single device with multiple capabilities, each providing an additional level of value-added performance. This also applies to other consumer electronic devices from PDAs to set-top TV electronics. The application will be the device. The mission of the designer will be even more important in the future as this paradigm matures. Proper user interfaces will be vital, as general-purpose devices become even more multifaceted, and single-purpose devices specialize. I don't want to beat to death an already-overused metaphor, but designers will be required to think outside of the box in order to address this developing reality. Alix L Paultre, Associate Editor