The first computer system was built by Abacus. Blaise Pascal has been credited in the history of computer for building the first digital computer systems in 1642, which basically added numbers entered with dials, and was made to help his father, a tax collector. That is how the digital 0's and 1's has been used to represent quantities in computer systems. I have often been asked questions such as, "what is the 0's and 1's, the bits and the bytes?" "Is it important to understand how computer systems uses bits and bytes in order to work with them? " and I also frequently hear people comment " I simply do not know why I cannot understand the 0's and 1's, and the worst is the TCP/IP".
If you are really interested to learn how the computer systems work and communicate, the answer is yes, you must understand the bits and bytes, however, an end-user only needs to know how to use a digital system productively, so, don’t be daunted or overwhelmed much less become scared of the Digital Convergence Technology.
Nonetheless, there is no doubt that a thorough understanding of the Fundamentals of Digital Systems (the 0s and 1s) is the key that unlocks understanding, for designing, architecting, implementing, integrating, fixing and troubleshooting all global digital systems.
It is an understatement to say that convergence between computers and consumer electronics is escalating, creating challenges and opportunities for both businesses and consumers. Now, it cannot be over-emphasized that the consolidation of separate email, voice, and video, fax and data resources presently offers an opportunity for system integrators and significant savings for business of all sizes. Accordingly, the challenge of integrating email, voice, video, fax, and data is becoming a rising priority for many network managers.
In this decade, we are just beginning to tap into the numerous benefits and features of Digital Convergence using digital technology, made possible due to the ability of the many different things such as pictures, voice, video and data to be digitized into the 0's and 1's and subsequently into very small files.
Digital Convergence Technology
Technology is changing so fast that no one may be capable of giving you a one hundred percent detail of what is happening at any given time.
It is worth noting that presently, there are tons of futuristic designs in software and hardware. Many of them happened several years ago, and are still fairly expensive for the consumer market. Many of the current systems, and some of the designs are still very expensive to upgrade. There are lots of prototype in the research laboratories. In the academic area, algebra, physics, engineering math and algorithms has many "constants" and "variables". From "silicon chips" to the "point charges", the possibilities and products of the end results in combination with physical properties of the materials are exceedingly great.
Many of the potentials has yet to be offered and implemented for consumers. When you go to the Microsoft® Research, for example, you will see lots of things that are going on there. Microsoft® spends billions of dollars researching technologies that neither has anything to do with windows, office, nor would you ever think the consumers will need them for anything.
You will observe that if you upgraded or purchased a new business PC with an Operating System such as Windows 2000, and if you are not a "Power User”, there is probably not enough reason to upgrade very quickly, in 2003-2004. What we are seeing is transition on how computer systems will be used in many different ways in the very near future, and that is the promise of the Digital Convergence Technology.
Digital Convergence would have become wide-spread before we can seize complete control of the internet and enjoy its full capabilities. We shall discuss Digital Convergence briefly so that you can explore, enjoy and profit from the new capabilities offered by the emerging Digital Convergence Technology.
Understanding Digital Convergence is neither about the ability to identify components of the emerging digital environment nor the ability to quickly and visually distinguish between say, a Palm Pilot PDA, Digital Mobile Phone, a Pocket PC, or the Tablet PC and a Laptop. It is important to understand the features and benefits for you as an individual or a professional in today’s fast paced and competitive business environment.
