Question: What role do mobile devices play in media convergence, and what significant mobile milestones can you think of?
Before the emergence of mobile devices, people would read newspapers, listen to the radio, or watch the televised broadcast to hear the news. These media sources were made for broad audiences that almost everyone had to listen to if they wanted access to media – people could not pick and choose what media they wanted to hear. Also, this way of delivering media limited the amount of people receiving the news since radio and television outlets would only come on at certain times and not everyone could make it in time to listen to it.
However, with mobile devices, media has converged so people can get whatever media they want and from multiple media sources. Many media outlets have been created, allowing access to different types of medias for specific topics. People can pick and choose what they want to hear, and what they want to tune out. Media has also become available in lots of different forms. Do you want to watch the news? You can watch any station you want on your phone, computer, television, or tablet. Do you want to read the news? There are unlimited amounts of websites and apps available that are tailored to your own liking that are always available. This convergence of picking specific media and accessing it in different ways was a significant milestone for the media. Having mobile devices also means people have access to media whenever and wherever they want – another major milestone for the media world. Mobile devices made it possible to get news at work, in the car, or waiting in line at any time you want. Since mobile devices make media so accessible, media intake has increased because more people are being reached with media information. With that, another milestone in media is that media intake has become a constant battle fighting for people’s attention from all the different sources that have been created. Whether it’s begging for a click, view, or share, each media outlet wants to reach the most audience possible.
