A Problem of Device Convergence ∞
One big problem with the current trend of device convergence is that if that one device fails, then so do all of your devices! This means that device failure has a bigger impact, and this impact will increase with the number of functions the device replaces.
Two examples of this. Firstly, I use my phone as an music player, which means one less device to carry round. But when going on a long journey without a spare battery, I ended up without a music player (not a big deal) but also without a phone. Although it wasn’t an issue that time, it could have been a problem if I was going to be meeting someone at the end of my journey. The other point is that a multifunction device often uses just as much battery power as 2 separate devices, but only has the one battery. So until workable fuel cells are developed, we will need to carry around spare batteries and/or chargers. So much for limiting the number of gadgets…
The other example is that my TV/DVR and my music are all part of my computer, and when the computer’s hard drive stopped working so did my TV, DVR, and my main method of listening to my music. Luckily, I was able to sort the problem with the hard drive, and I have virtually all of my music sitting on the shelf in the form of CDs (I still like to buy “something” not just an mp3/m4a/... file)
Neither time was there a significant problem (especially not in the wider sense), but I can see that the “total convergent device” that does everything might not really be the best idea, especially when it comes to failure.