Technology and Integration, Like the Media Stick, Gets More Done
A major player in total media integration is the media stick. Thanks to the media stick you can use the same item to store your documents, music, pictures, and video files. Though we can store all that information together, not all of today’s devices that are used to play or display these files support media sticks.
The next step is to ad media slots to our everyday home entertainment devices. All your favorite songs are on your media stick so you can play it on your mp3 player while you jog. If stereo systems had media slots you could just pop a media stick in and listen to your favorite songs without going through the hassle of changing the audio format and putting it on a CD. Wouldn’t it be nice not having to buy different memory cards for each video game system, well with a media slot you could save all your games together along with other files. Don’t have time to listen to your messages or can’t remember exactly what the directions were from your boss on a project? Wouldn’t it be nice to just take the media stick out of your answering machine and listen to it in your car on your stereo system, mp3 player, PDA, or cell phone? Then again in the future your cell phone, PDA, and mp3 player will probably be the same device.
T.V. already allows you to link your devices to it with the right cable. So why not go the next step with easy wireless media viewing? The TV and computer will merge and become a 24/7 on demand media center. Tivo was a small step in this direction, but the ultimate conclusion will be a media library that’s always there for you to select what you want to see when you want to see it. Of course that’s in addition to the scheduled broadcast we have today.
Technology is a funny thing because it is used as both a measuring stick of how far we evolved while acting as tool helping us to evolve. As things get easier, faster and closer together we have more time to accomplish more. So in a way technology is mother of itself.
