Blog From The Past...2008 To Be Exact...
10 years ago, I was writing software for digital signage for a small digital agency I had started called Blind Squirrel, and during this time, I had several epiphanies related to the accelerating growth in technology, and the inability to keep up as a small shop developer, and a consumer... some of this article rings true today with VR and AR developers without a doubt...
As I continue developing software for digital signage applications, I also continue looking at the various solutions available. Some solutions have been developed over years of development. It occurs to me that regardless of the amount of time that a company has been working on a software solution for digital signage, the tools available, such as the internet, broadband access, RFID, and other technologies, are still very new, and therefore, to some degree, trump the experience card of the older developers. In fact, in some ways in is a hinderance to the older companies as they now have to come up to speed with their own technology, or be left behind by those of us embracing the latest tools. This is an interesting issue for the larger companies as they are faced with the "ivory tower" crumbling beneath them. Customers are smarter than 20 years ago about technology. They generally have a knowledge of what they want to achieve, and how they want to do it. They also have expectations of what a digital signage application is supposed to be able to do under the hood, not just on the screen. They want to choose. Even though the cost is coming down for the hardware involved, and the price structure for software driven signage is literally all over the place, there are still a large number of potential customers that operate under the idea that they don't need a form of digital signage. I am guessing, that at some point in history, a hand written sign was fine too.
This ripple in the marketing strategy for businesses is here to stay, and educating yourself on how your business or organization can use digital signage or messaging is an important step forward. One of the main issues at hand with marketing has always been appealing to the younger crowd. If you are not looking to do that with technology, such as digital menus, message boards, or signage, or even the iPhone or iPod Touch, then you may be missing the boat. These aren't fads, they are the new TV. People are more and more on the go. Mobile. Kids have always been mobile, and with the younger set getting older every day, mobility and the ability to advertise to mobile people is more critical than ever. And the techniques to do so are challenging. The complexity of this newly re-formed industry in terms of technology dwarfs the CRTs mounted in your local bar showing the game. The customers in the early adoption process of these emerging technologies should give the tree a good shake so as to make sure all of the fruit falls. Otherwise, they may just settle for the sour fruit already on the ground.