Virtually all of the broadcast studies work being done dealt with national systems international and comparative in nature, sometimes, but nonetheless confined by national borders, laws, and viewership. Our focus, transnational broadcasting, is well on its way to becoming no longer a somewhat obscure specialty but the dominant model of broadcasting, thanks to convergence. Over the last few years we've seen developments like webcasting and interactive TV that can be used for e-mail, internet and electronic program guides. These are significant, but still wired, still based on cable and phone lines for data transmission. What's quickly becoming obvious is that the real future of convergence is wireless.
Major players see the tremendous potential.
Another type of convergence, to add to the geographical and technological, is emerging, and that is partnerships among mobile phone manufacturers, service providers, computer companies, content providers, and even media. Microsoft invested in a partnership with mobile service provider Nextel, and last December announced joint ventures with Ericsson one of the provisions being that Ericsson will use Microsoft Mobile Explorer on its WAP phones. What all of this means is that you can pull out your mobile phone anywhere and anytime and check stocks, sports scores, or weather. While you're standing at the cash register in the supermarket, you can transfer money between bank accounts. You can check your e-mail without being tied down by wires and cables.