Convergence is having a major impact on the film industry by providing more options for viewing movies. This includes being able to download and watch movies on portable devices like laptops. This has decreased the price of viewing movies and made the experience more convenient. However, it also threatens the traditional cinema experience. As viewing options have increased with convergence, cinemas may die out by 2050 if film companies do not create strategies to encourage people to continue going to movie theaters.

1. Convergence- how and why is it important to consider convergence when planning for the future in
the media industry.
Convergence is making a big impact on the film industry, and the big companies behind the block
buster films have to come up with different strategies to conquer this obstacle. Back in the day, film
lovers would have a day or night out at the cinema- travel, food and the experience included in the
price. Nowadays fans of the movies can simply download a film and watch it on their portable
laptop, obviously the price of watching movies has slowly decreased due to convergence.
When I want to watch a film, I have four options to choose from: the cinema, the TV, a DVD/video or
my laptop. The wide range of options has developed over the years making the media and movies
more portable and convenient. I only go to the cinema if I have enough money or can find people
who want to come and watch the same film as me, this can end up being quite difficult considering I
have a low wage and my friends all have different preferences when it comes to films. On the other
hand, I could sit at home in any room and watch a film of my choice. I don’t have to worry about
travel costs or bus times, I also don’t have to worry about choosing a film everyone likes, all I have to
think about it what food from the fridge I will snack on throughout the film. Also films are all
scheduled to show at different times, which can end up being very tricky when that has to coincide
with the bus times to get home, but when I download a film on my laptop I can watch it at any time,
making it more convenient. This means that the film companies are going to have to come up with
more ideas to keep viewers going to cinema, otherwise convergence will bring an end to cinemas by
2050.
Personally I think that profit is a major issue when it comes to convergence. I would be able to go to
the cinema more often if it was more affordable.