Devices that can store and play music:
MP3 Players
MP4 Players
Phones
PSPs
DS (i & Lite)
XBox (360)
Playstation (1, 2 & 3)
Wii
Most MP3 & MP4 Players nowadays can also be used to store photos, videos and games on them as well as music. Things like the Itouch feature applications you can put on it to play games, text people and even take pictures.
Phones can now also be used as cameras, feature games, music, notepads, calendars and some even have barcode readers as well as being a device for communication.
PSPs (Playstation Portable) & DS (Dual Screen Nintendo) are originally portable games consoles but can also be used to listen to music, watch movies, take pictures and even be used to access the internet.
Xbox (360) and Playstation(1, 2 & 3) & Wii's are games consoles and so can be used to play games on but also have features in which you can listen to music while you play these games. You can also play music games such as Lips or Singstar which are Kareoke based games. These consoles can also be used to access the internet, to chat to friends on and to play games online with people across the world.
I think that all of the above are good examples for technological convergence. They all now effectively do a lot of the same things: you can play games on them, listen to music with them, watch movies with them, go online with them and most of them can be used to take pictures. Although some are more efficient for certain things and not so effienct for others, you could buy any of these Gadgets and do any of these things.
On an MP3 or MP4 players, you can sync music onto it. An Itouch can also download music directly from Itunes and as it has the internet, it can also be used to stream.
Phones can have music directly placed onto their memory cards. Phones like the Nokia N97 or the IPhone have internet access and therefore can be used to Download tracks onto it, and also as there is internet, they can also be used to stream live music or music from YouTube.
PSPs and DSs can have music directly placed onto them (with the PSP, you can directly drag and drop. With the DSi, you need an SD card to put the music onto and it can only play AAC files so ITunes is needed).
The Xbox 360, the Playstation 3 and the Wii all play music that can be directly placed onto it. The Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 feature usb ports in which you can directly plug in MP3 players to listen to music (The Wii does have usb ports but their only current use is for the LAN adapter). The Wii, has an in-built Opera
web browser in which you can fully access the internet and therefore can stream music from YouTube and other livestreams through a wireless router.
ITunes can be used to download music for devices such as: MP3 players such as the Ipod, Itouch, IPhone and also other MP3 Players, Phones & for the DSi.
Limewire, and Torrent sites such as Demonoid, The Pirate Bay and ISOhunt can be used to download music illegally for MP3 Players, Phones & Games Consoles.
YouTube provides free music streaming for devices with an internet access such as Phones, MP3 players such as the ITouch & The Wii.
Websites such as Napster, Amazon and HMV.com provide legal music downloads which can be used on MP3 players, Phones & Games Consoles.
On Itunes & Napster, they usually charge around £0.99 per song & a varied price on albums.
HMV and Amazon usually charge per album rather than by individual song and the prices vary depending on the popularity of the album.
I
think from all the devices I have researched, I think I would like the IPhone most of all as it is a Phone, MP3 Player, Games Console and Personal Computer rolled into one. It features all of the things mentioned above and is still a brilliant music player and phone which personally, I think is very important. Unfortunately, I doubt I will own one until later on in life due to it's rather large pricetag!
