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Title: Digital Convergence: How the Merging of Computers, Communications and Multimedia is Transforming Our Lives by Andy Covell, Fredrick Whyte ISBN: 1-890154-16-4 Publisher: Aegis Pub Group Pub. Date: December, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.14 (7 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: a good and easy guide for understanding digital technologies
Comment: Technologies have existed throughout our history from physical tools such as hammer and wheel to intellectual skills such as know-how of organization management. With the advent and acceptance of new technologies, people have experienced the change of life pattern correspondingly. Since the late 1990s, a variety of information and communication technologies (ICTs) have also changed our lives. For example, mobile telephone made it easier to make and adjust appointments. Internet brings about both richness and overload of available information. Andy Covell tries to show the potential opportunity new digital technologies offer individuals through his book Digital Convergence.
Digital ICTs are different from conventional analog ICTs in that they represent any information as binary digits. This way of digitized representation improves our ability to transmit, edit, and compute information. Furthermore, it is relatively easier to integrate different kinds of digital technologies. This can be called digital convergence. According to the author, digital convergence refers to the merging of computing capabilities, multimedia technologies, and communication technologies. Currently, digital convergence is in progress.
As an expert of information technology, the author focuses on technological potential for influencing human life. Actually this book can be regarded as a kind of guidebook rather than one that describes and discusses the impact of digital convergence on human life. We can find somewhat familiar acronyms such as LAN, MPEG-1, AGP, PCMCIA, and MIDI. But we may not know exactly what they mean and how can they be used. This book is useful in that it provides easy explanation of each acronym, sometimes with stories of author himself.
But it may be misleading to discuss the impact of digital convergence from technology-centered perspective. Technological potential is not the outcome but a necessary condition. Digital convergence can transform our lives through the interaction with diverse political, economical, and cultural conditions. Nonetheless, this book is useful in that it helps understand the functionality and potential impact of diverse digital technologies.
Rating: 4
Summary: Digital Convergence Review
Comment: Andy Covell's "Digital Convergence" provides lots information regarding the conventional and current technologies. The author talks about the history and development of conventional technologies, such as telephone, prints, and radios, and how digital technology makes it differently. The author also discusses computing, digital communications technology, and digital multimedia in detail on each technology.
This book is faily easy to read for beginners who want to learn about digital technology because it provides definition and usage of some certain technologies or mechanisms; however, this book will not be helpful or useful for people who already have knowledge on digital technology, but want to know more in depth information. Providing very little implementations is another weakness of the book. It gives little implementation at the very last chapter of the book which is also not very helpful.
Overall, this book is perfect when looking for definations and implementing the technology with daily life, but not for gathering new ideas. People will find this book comes handy when looking for an easy defination for term what we hear everyday, but do not exactly know what it means.
Rating: 3
Summary: Very general and not much insight
Comment: Digital convergence provides a high level overview of the current digital technologies. This book describes conventional technologies, how digital implements differently, computing, digital communications technologies, multi media and convergence technologies. The final chapter in the book provides a very generic project template for how to select and implement your first convergence project.
The technology descriptions are very brief, and while they provide a decent overview, there is absolutely no depth. The basic buzzwords are covered but very little in terms of real world implementation experience or industry issues are covered.
The practical implementation details are left until the final chapter. However, it only provides a basic Systems Development LifeCycle methodology approach that could be used for any development effort. Mr. Covell makes very little attempt to describe how convergence projects differ from traditional implementations.
Overall, this book makes an ok primer but provides very little "hard" or practical information.
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Title: Introductory Concepts in Information Science by Melanie J. Norton ISBN: 1573870870 Publisher: Information Today, Inc. Pub. Date: May, 2000 List Price(USD): $39.50 |
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Title: Competing in the Age of Digital Convergence by David B. Yoffie ISBN: 0875847269 Publisher: Harvard Business School Press Pub. Date: February, 1997 List Price(USD): $45.00 |
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Title: Computer Confluence, Standard Edition with CD, Fifth Edition by George Beekman ISBN: 0130778389 Publisher: Prentice Hall Pub. Date: 06 December, 2002 List Price(USD): $72.00 |
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Title: Telecom Convergence, 2/e : How to Profit from the Convergence of Technologies, Services, and Companies by Steven Shepard ISBN: 0071387854 Publisher: McGraw-Hill Professional Pub. Date: 19 February, 2002 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
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Title: Reference and Information Services: An Introduction by Richard E. Bopp, Linda C. Smith ISBN: 1563086247 Publisher: Libraries Unlimited Pub. Date: 15 December, 2000 List Price(USD): $49.50 |
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