When Nitendo’s Wii first came out, it was a convergence of the following electronics: accelerometers, blue tooth, gyroscopes, and infrared detection to bring about an intuitive controller that anyone can use. This Wednesday, the Wii Fit is being released in the United States and once again, the controller is a convergence of technology. Millions will be sold and people will play them without even wondering how they work. How many of your students are like this?

But, if you take the time to explain to a student how it all works, they usually say the same thing, “cool”. Now you have your student interested in the how it works.  But for others, they will want to know more - and it is these that we need to capture for these are the ones who may have never thought of a career in electronics. 

My career choice was not one that I ever thought of doing.  It was only because I fell into it by accident and found the “cool” factor to it that I gave it a chance and discovered that I love doing it.  Students may think they know what they want to do, but until they experience the “cool” factor, they may never know.  How many of you came about your career because of some “cool” factor, and what was it?

As more and more gadgets converge with different technologies, the more invisible the technologies become, the less aware people become of what makes the gadget tick.  It is our job as educators to take every day gizmos and point out the convergence of technologies and everything else.