Introduction 

Converging Technologies The rapid integration and merging of computers, video, audio, graphics and data is behind the latest buzzwords: converging technology. Digitizing all of these bits of information and serving them via high-speed broadband networks is revolutionizing the information world.

• DVD is perhaps the purest example of converging technology since it can be displayed on both computer monitors and television sets.
• Wearable computers are no longer the subject of jokes.
• Cell phone with built-in cameras can send photos via email or instant messaging
• McDonald's and Starbucks offer WiFi connections so that folks can surf the Net or retrieve email from their laptops or PDAs while grabbing a quick bite or cup of coffee.

The boundaries are blurring between different types of companies involved in the new media. America Online buys Time Warner and acquires high-speed cable access via RoadRunner and huge text, video, and musical content archives. What's next? Will Microsoft buy the Smithsonian?

The new media is richer in depth than the old media but harder to get a handle on. Search engines have made trendspotting available to everyone.

All these sites are growing in popularity — a trend, as it were. There's Google Zeitgeist, JeevesIQ and buzz.yahoo.com. The best, though, is 50.Lycos.com, because besides all the usual number-crunching, it has Aaron Schatz, who provides insightful trend background.

Source: "Web Allows People Like You And Me to Spot Trends. Uh-Oh." The Wallstreet Journal Online, July 28, 2003

The top searches are dominated by queries about new music groups, film stars, and people in the news. Google Zeitgeist Around the World provides the best snapshot of trends outside the USA.