During most of the 80's there was an impressive, clever and very promising company called Convergent Technologies which was later absorbed by Burroughs and the public lost sight of its many innovations and brilliant personnel. The company name brought into focus the concept that many technologies are rushing toward a central point of convergence.

This idea was supported by Moore's Law (component densities double every 18 months) and Intel's continuing delivery of chips - that by their very existence - proved the postulate. Like many observers at that time, I was and am still fascinated with the possibilities presented by the progression that doubles "computing power" with each 18 month cycle.

The nagging question for me remained - converging toward what? I could easily see the huge leaps in component density but the hardware centric view left much to be explained.

As we progressed through the early 90's networks and browsers gained importance and the build-out of the Networked Society began to sweep across the globe. The central purpose of the computer shifted from "crunching numbers" to the support of human communication. Was communication the center toward which technologies were rushing? Certainly some would have answered yes to that question.

Today it is obvious that the point of convergence is the consumer - you! More than at any time in the past computational power is supporting human wants, needs and desires at many levels and from many perspectives. We have moved from office applications, to desktop publishing to a PC-based entertainment center and a global Networked Society. We have cut the cord attaching us to a power source and become mobile and that mobile device will shortly support ubiquitous video, computing and communication. Communications that delivers all media on-demand.

With that delivery system in place and broadly affordable, telephony, news and entertainment come along for the cost of the software and the licenses for its use. Along with this delivery method a huge number of "middle-men" - sales, support, agents, interpreters, editors, printers and a host of others will lose their jobs because their "value proposition" is no longer valid. In increasing numbers, they are simply no longer needed to sell, interpret, facilitate or guide the consumer.

And in a very short time it has become abundantly clear that what we are converging toward is customers. Hardware development, software integration, Broadcast TV, Magazines, Music and Movies in a digital world are simply different forms of code all delivered by the network and available on-demand using a properly manufactured and licensed access device.

If it feels like the world is rushing toward you, you've correctly perceived what is taking place.

If you continue to think that Marketing is workable in a "business as usual mode" you are sadly mistaken. The new reality is Digital Marketing because "going digital" provides the ability to target individuals. And those individuals have been changed, as has where and how they make purchases. Welcome to the Networked Society and "the market of one."

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