Feature

Move Over, Television:

Computers Now Rule The “Always On” World

The showdown was a long time coming. People have been talking about the “convergence” of computers, telephony and entertainment media for years as though these trajectories will meet at some point in the future. So while cell phones have steadily evolved into mini PCs, and the video game industry has surpassed movies, the two revolutionary technologies that have most impacted civilization over the past century - television and computers - have stayed on somewhat parallel paths. Until now.

According to a recent Deloitte™ State of the Media survey, computers have usurped television as America’s primary source of entertainment. 60% of Americans now favor the computer as their main source of entertainment over their TV, while 58% wish that they could connect their TV to the web. Women are just behind men in computer use (50% vs. 62%), and younger generations are more imbued with technology than ever before. Instead of spending hours watching the television after school or on weekends, children are turning to their desktops, ensuring the next generation is even more “converged” than the last.

The transformation is even more complete if you define computers more broadly to encompass the rapid rise of the smart phone. 36% of Americans use their phones for more than simple calls. They take pictures, tweet, record video, text message, watch films, play games, listen to music, and surf the web. More “Millennials” (those born toward the dawn of the 21st century) are using their cell phones as a main form of entertainment, even if mom and dad are still footing the bill.

Consumer spending on video games has now surpassed the movie industry as games take strides into the mainstream. A key obstacle in this mainstreaming has always been the adoption by women, and the rise of casual gaming has changed all that. Today, more women take part in the gaming world than ever before. According to the Deloitte study, 50% of American women say that video, PC, and Internet games have become an important source of entertainment in their lives, and there is still potential for significant growth.

“Most of the games out there are still First Person Shooters, with violence that appeals more to men,” says Mira Han, a graphic designer and gamer in San Francisco. “What I’ve noticed is that women and children have been more inclined to play casual games on the phone, or the Wii games, because they’re more user friendly - and the adventure or role playing themes are more female-friendly, too.”

And the impact of the computer on the music industry is so glaringly obvious it hardly needs detailing. Put simply, sales of single song downloads are now the norm. CDs are dead, they just haven’t seen the memo yet.

All signs indicate the future promises an even deeper level of convergence. Children are replacing television and toys with computers as both encourage them to visit websites and play online games. An estimated 25 million children worldwide spend a few hours a day playing Neopet™ games, earning “currency” that they spend on the care of their animal creations (dragons, pink ponies, etc.). The game has been translated into ten languages and is becoming a staple of global childhood.

The implications of all this are significant on levels stretching from macro to micro. The most obvious effect is a blurring of the lines between entertainment, technology, and social interaction in the new technologies introduced in the years to come. It’s the iPhone™ effect. Every piece of technology increasingly needs to do everything. Consumers expect everything to be always on, always ready, always connected, always entertaining.

But perhaps even more significantly, no matter what new technologies emerge, this “always on” promise means a level of pervasive interconnectivity never before experienced by any form of media. It has exciting possibilities for positive changes, giving voice to millions who might not otherwise be heard, linking cultures, spawning art forms, and replacing couch potato media with more interactivity.

It will become easier to connect with people and information than ever before; it will also become harder to disconnect from people and information than ever before.

Personal marketing is becoming the activity du jour, as entertaining others is both a way of relating and a form of entertaining yourself. With the rise of webcams, blogs, vlogs, and laptops equipped with almost everything you need to create a public persona, more Americans are considering themselves personal broadcasters. 45% of Americans are creating some form of public content, while 69% are viewing it.

With more people involved, connected, and apt to share personal information, the risk rises that information can fall into the wrong hands and be exploited. At the same time, the tolerance for preventative steps, like security software, decreases. Last month, Symantec released its newest line of Norton security software meant to answer this call with a level of speed and performance that is based on the new “always on” consumer expectations of the computer, with separate versions that include features aimed specifically at gamers.

In perhaps the greatest indicator of pervasiveness, Dr. Jerald Block added Web abuse to his Journal of Mental Disorders (American Journal of Psychiatry), claiming that excessive computer use is an addiction. South Korea has declared Internet addiction one of its most serious public health issues, with citizens online and gaming more than 23 hours per week, resulting in lost jobs and a rise of school dropouts. It appears that the new media consumer must take pains in not only avoiding online culprits, but also in preventing becoming their own worst enemy.

In short, it may finally be time to speak of convergence only in the past tense. The computer has replaced the television and seems to be well on its way to replacing itself. What is emerging is a new form of media where the old hardware definitions may simply be irrelevant. Whether surfing the web, gaming, cell phoning, emailing, or watching video/movies/television, you are simply always connected and always on. Your world has finally…converged.