The Evolution of Digital Media...

Where Will It All End?

The digital revolution has been a wonder to witness, and an expensive and somewhat frustrating ordeal to be a part of. Part of a revolution is to develop technology and be the first on the street with your product. Due to this, we are confronted with a feeling after our purchase that our product is sold at lower cost and something new and improved enters the market with a new options you really want. Deal with it, that’s evolution baby.

Where will this evolution take us? When will it, or will it ever end? I have been watching the PDA, Cell Phone, MP3 Player, Digital cameras, video cameras and GPS devices grow up. There have been attempts to merge these devices together- some good, some not so good. Will there ever be a “do it all” device? Should there even be a device that can do it all?


PDA’s (Palm & PocketPC) hit the mark early on with the ability to browse the web and play MP3’s and video. GPS CF cards turned them into personal navigators. And you could even install a camera CF card. Not too shabby. Cell phones also evolved adding digital camera, GPS functionality and video capability. What has this evolution really done? Well now we have multiple devices that share many of the same capabilities!

I was in Singapore earlier this year and picked up a little digital media wonder! It is the size of a Zune and does A LOT, but not everything. It is a nice device to travel with because it does do so much. Capabilities: MP3 audio player, MP4 video player, voice recorder, webcam, digital still camera, digital video camera, electronic book reader, play games, digital video recorder and player and it has a external speaker and even an SD card slot so it’s a card reader too. What can’t it do? Cell Phone & GPS. It is like carrying a home entertainment center in your pocket. However, due to the size of the lens, the photos it takes are not too good. This seems to be the problem with many of these “do it all” products- they do a lot, but not anything great (Editor's Note: That old phrase about "Jack of all trades, master of none" definitely applies here.)

When I want to take digital photos I use my DSLR; no other device does a better job. When I want to take a trip, I take my portable GPS, and it rocks. Cell phones may lose out in the end. Some work places and public events won’t let you in with a camera/video phone. I have a basic phone. No other capabilities. Just a phone. I can take it anywhere, even overseas. Do we really want a “do it all” device? If you lose it or it gets stolen you have lost everything. It sure is convenient though. However there will still be functions that it cannot do when compared to other standalone devices.

In Closing….

I have always believed that PDA’s and Cell Phones will slowly evolve into one common device. They are just too much alike. However we still lug around our laptops don’t we? Digital media devices will continue to evolve so you better strap in for the ride! Consumers will drive this evolution and there will always be different devices available. Some will have many capabilities and other devices will address one functionality very well because users all have there own needs. Maybe someday we will all have a chip embedded under our skin, and these devices won’t even exist! The real overall winner in this revolution may just be the battery manufacturers as each device needs its own battery, and almost none are a standard size.

-Bear