Is the "black box" REALLY a fallacy?

Some of you may remember reading about the "black box" fallacy in Convergence Culture a few weeks back (and if you don't, you'd better read up on it now - it's on the study guide for today's test!). Anyway, something that occurred today made me think it may not be as much a fallacy as Jenkins thought.


My roommate recently got a new iPod touch; me, being a fan of the classic nano, wasn't aware of all the iPod touch's capabilities until I saw her using it - surfing the web, playing apps, and even sending text messages from it. These were all things I had seen my brother do before - using his iPhone.


"So, does that thing do basically everything the iPhone does, aside from making phone calls?" I asked.


Her response was yes.


Think about it: on one hand, I have a separate cell phone (for making calls and texting), laptop computer (for Internet usage), iPod nano (for music), and Nintendo DS (for gaming). While some of these devices do overlap a bit in their capabilities, they aren't as versatile as this new iPod. 


So if the "black box" fallacy really is a fallacy, then why does this tiny iPod have the capabilities of so many different devices all built into one?


Oh, great. I just found out it takes photos and shoots videos too. Say your goodbyes to the digital camera.