Tribe's Response to Convergence

Henry Jenkins

Convergence is the coming together of the digital and analog world, in other words, it is where old and new media collide. Cultures are always changing, and technology advances practically every day; therefore, new media is inevitable. Old media isn’t going away- it’s just changing and evolving into new media. An author, Henry Jenkins, wrote a book called “Convergence Culture” that expands on the topic. In the introduction chapter, he breaks things down a bit more. Jenkins defines media in 2 different ways. The first way explains that “a medium is a technology that enables communication.” The second says “a medium is a set of associated ‘protocols’ or social and cultural practices that have grown up around that technology.” Examples would include television broadcasting, publishing, Internet, etc. Jenkins makes a point about the changing media by saying, “A medium’s content may shift, its audience may change, and its social status may rise or fall, but once a medium establishes itself as satisfying some core human demand, it continues to function within the larger system of communication options.” There are improved ways of doing things, and they will continue to improve.

For example, just because not many people don’t use record players anymore doesn’t mean music is gone. Individuals use iPods and cell phones for music now. Another example of the convergence of technology is the radio and the television. The demand for entertainment is still around in the world today. In the early 1900’s the way people got their entertainment was with the radio. The television was then invented in 1927. Then, in the late 1960’s the television became a household staple. Most people believe that the television killed the radio. However, radio programs still exist. They just have to now coexist in a world where television takes precedence. Television programs are slowly being overpowered with the inventions of Netflix and Hulu.

With all of the changes happening in media, Jenkins came up with the “black box fallacy.” It is a prediction that all media is going to get to us through a black box in our living rooms or something we take with us everywhere. It seems that everyone has a bunch of black boxes right now, so what are the chances that all of them could combine to create a single black box? As of right now, it seems highly impossible. People have different devices for different actions. Gaming consoles, DVD players, cell phones, laptops, and televisions all have their own purpose. Cell phones, however, can possibly be viewed as one of these “black boxes”. The phones of today have the capability to watch any entertainment, play games, and communicate with others. When someone thinks of it this way, it is not as hard to see that a “black box” is a far-fetched idea.