Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Govt mail
Parcel svcs
Courier svcs
Other delivery
svcs
Mailgram
Telex
EMS
Internatl tel svcs
Long dist tel svcs
Local tel svcs
Databases and
videotex
VANS
DBS
Broadcast networks
Broadcast stations
Cable networks
Cable operators
Professional svcs
Financial svcs
Advertising svcs
News svcs
Teletext
Multipoint distribution svcs
Digital termination svcs
Mobile svcs
Paging svcs
FM subcarriers
Billing and metering svcs
Multiplexing svcs
Bulk transmission svcs
Industry networks
Printing COS
libraries
Time sharing Service bureaus
Online directories
Software svcs
Syndicators and
program packagers
Retailers
Newsstands
Defense telecom systems
Security svcs
Loose-leaf svcs
Internet
Computers
PABXs
Radios
TV sets
Telephones
Terminals
Printers
Facsimile
ATMs
POS equip.
Broadcast and transmission equip
Word processors
Videotape recorders
Phonos, video disk players
Calculators
Microfilm, microfiche
Business forms
Software packages
Telephone switching equip
Modems
Concentrators
Multiplexers
Directories
Newspapers
Newsletters
Magazines
Printing and
graphics equip.
Copiers
Cash registers
Instruments
Typewriters
Dictation equip.
Blank tape and film
Shoppers
Audio records
and tapes
Films and
video programs
File cabinets
Paper
Greeting cards
Books
Form
Substance
Figure 1.5 Spectrum of offerings (product/service) versus medium (or form or container)/
message (or substance or content).
data communication, telecommunications, and media industries has resulted in the emergence of
one of the biggest market spaces with possibly the largest growth opportunities in recent times.
Convergence describes the phenomenon in which two or more existing technologies, markets,
producers, boundaries, or value chains combine to create a new force that is more powerful and
more efficient than the sum of its constituting technologies. The value chain migration alludes
to the development of real-term systems that integrate supply chain systems and customer-facing
systems, resulting in a single and unified integrated process.
This convergence is primarily because of three factors:
1. The digitization of information to enable the preparation, processing, storage, and transmis-
sion of information regardless of its form (data, graphics, sound and video, or any combina-
tion of these).
2. The rapidly declining cost of computing that has enabled computing to become ubiquitous
and available with sufficient power (see note “Moore's Law”).
3. The availability of broadband communications is critical to convergence because multime-
dia is both storage intensive and time sensitive.
Figure 1.6 presents the hardware trends in the 1990s and the current decade.
