“The internet is enabling conversations among human beings that were simply not possible in the era of mass media” The Cluetrain Manifesto
Convergence is a term used to describe the tendency for different systems to evolve towards similar ends. Henry Jenkins, in his 2001 article ‘Convergence? I Diverge‘, identifies five distinct ways in which convergence has occurred:
- Technological convergence
- Economic convergence
- Social or organic convergence
- New forms of cultural creativity
- Global convergence as two-way cultural traffic leading to cultural hybridity
It’s important to note that the last three of these convergences are related to profound cultural change. We then find that convergence has indeed contributed to the formation of a new cultural platform, one where digital media cannot be considered merely as a set/collection of technical tools, but as a new cultural medium. To contest this medium we must, paraphrasing Dewdney and Ride, re-order the toolbox, recast the separate tools of analogue media into a common digital matrix which will allow sound, image and text to be captured, encoded, edited and output using the same apparatus.
As we race towards an ever more converged ecology, the separate treatment of what are now becoming inter-related disciplines is increasingly difficult to be sustain. Interdisciplinarity, a constant throughout the CT programme, provides a model for treating issues which are too complex to be adequately addressed by a single discipline. The multi-dimensional architectures typical of contemporary digital systems and experiences demand that future professionals possess a diverse range of high-level technical skills, coupled with creative enquiry and strong aesthetic values. In short, art and code.
