Now That's Edutainment and Convergence!

My iPhone, originally uploaded by George Ruiz.

Here is a great post by George Ruiz on Flickr that says the three words that I am always talking about on this site: Edutainment and Convergence!
If you have a Mac and an iPhone you are more than half way there, all you need is the right HD video camera and tripod and a Canon Powershot if you want super digital stills.

My point is that one can a really nice Mac and an iPhone for less than $3,000 and then add on a decent HD and Powershot Shot for another $3, 000 and you can have a walking studio that can fit in one bag when traveling for less than $7, 000. I remember that a similar hookup during the early 90's or at the beginning of the decade and it would have cost closer to $70 to get the same quality results for video, sound and to put it online. Of course, no cell phone existed for the masses during the 1990's ,and neither did iTunes , that play back video like iTunes. People were just really adopting digi-Beta at the beginning of the decade and the tapes were high: nearly $50 at the time. My point is that you could have done streaming and downloads but the qualtiy was not there. After the Duke Digital Initiative, one would think that every college could put this set up in every students hands, and throw in a digital camera and classic iPod for storage purpose. Why? Because no one would ever have an excuse for missing a class that they can download on their computer or their phone via rss, and the students could also create their own visual homework to accompany what they write. It would be a great way to conduct natural research in field whether it was qualitative, mixed or quantitative.
This is just part of the future of education. We just have to get all of the Academy on board because those who podcast on iTunesU are already ahead of the game. We just need to work with them on presentation, and we can recruit producers and directors for the job of killing the snooze factor and making the class/show fun, interactive and learner-centered.