It was the mantra pronounced by Steve Jobs long before anyone knew what the implications of converging technologies might be. In 1998, standing before a group of avid tech fans, Jobs was asked what convergence meant and where it would lead. He quipped: “Your television’s gonna be able to make toast.” Since then, a steady stream of innovations in technology have brought about a blurring of the lines between televisions, PCs, tablets, mobile phones and games consoles. It’s all coming together. But how far will the convergence revolution go?Nowadays users want access to multiple kinds of content, anytime, anywhere and across an array of different platforms. This has led many in the tech industry to speculate that one day, you will have it all in one device.While this is a thought-provoking idea, no one has gotten it right just yet. From a user perspective the single-device theory raises some interesting questions: What kind of battery would it need? What would be its ideal size? If you don’t find a smartphone screen to be the optimum way of enjoying television, you’ll probably want something bigger. But will it still fit in a purse or backpack? If my smartphone will double as a TV set-top box one day, what do I do if an important call comes in? How will consumer behaviour have to change, and what about ease-of-use? New technologies are only adopted on a wide scale when they achieve a certain level of simplicity.Still, there are many steps being made in the direction of convergence. Apple tried it with Apple TV, which lets users stream content from the Internet or from computers or other devices on a home network. But the technology, even after its second release in 2010, is still used mainly by the tech-savvy, not the average consumer. The Slingbox lets you take your TV shows anywhere you go. For all these uses, when content is accessed on different platforms in international markets, rights issues come into play, so availability may be a concern.Interestingly, all these new devices have not led to a decline in traditional television watching. In fact a number of recent studies have shown that users of these devices actually watch more traditional TV than average viewers. At the same time, TV screens keep getting larger, a clear sign that consumers still want the big-view experience.As all these innovations drive user behaviour in new directions, it seems more likely that, instead of a single device, the industry will evolve into a series of connected devices, working seamlessly together and sharing content. A convergence of features and functionality rather than hardware. And as it all comes together, the living room is being transformed into a full-scale entertainment and communications centre.Key to it all is bandwidth, as these technologies rely on network capacity to deliver the kind of experience users are coming to expect. From the bandwidth perspective, fibre-optics and fibre-based networks are the technology of choice, enabling the movement of vast amounts of data at the speed of light. As the industry and consumers align behind the increasing demand for bandwidth, public and private sector entities worldwide are stepping up to accelerate the development of these networks over the next several years. It promises to be an interesting future, even if we can’t get the TV to make toast.Terry Roberson is the general manager of Bermuda CableVision.