From the we-really-need-to-sell-advertising department: For nearly two decades, industry sages have heralded the coming age of converging digital technology. But it remained an empty slogan. Now, thanks to faster chips, broader bandwidth, and a common Internet standard, technologies are quickly merging. "Digitalization is creating products that can't be categorized as tech or consumer electronics. The walls are coming down." That sets up a collision of three massive industries: computers and software; consumer electronics; and communications. They all need help. The result is a Big Bang of convergence, and it's likely to produce the biggest explosion of innovation since the dawn of the Internet. |