The Digital Signage ExpertHaving been involved in Digital Signage since 1994, (yes, before anyone knew what to call it), it is great to see the industry has evolved and matured, the segments of a once whole pie are being broken into clearly identifiable pieces each with their own place within the Digital Signage ecosystem.
In those early days, we (as Remote Media) and others provided every piece of the pie and where we did not have the products or services in house, we would contract them in to provide a turn-key solution to those brave enough to deploy the very first Digital Signage networks. PC’s used for playing back digital signage content were called ‘media devices’ to protect and hide the fact they where standard PC ‘s. And running a digital signage network was a black-art performed by only the most skilled and expensive people typically from Global IT and TV production companies.
Fast forward 16 years to today and for those companies truly dedicated to the global possibilities of digital signage, the world is a totally different place. The pie of opportunity in the digital signage sector has grown from a cup cake to a huge world record breaking pie of opportunity. As the pie has grown, so to have the pieces that make up the different components in the digital signage sector.
As Remote Media we used to manufacture and supply LCD displays with integrated PC technology, then along comes Samsung and others who spot the opportunity to offer this slice of the pie. We also used to manufacture PC’s as Digital Signage players, then in steps AOpen with the Digital Engine range to offer a mass-produced and optimised product for use in digital signage applications.
The above two examples can be replicated across all of the components of a digital signage network from syndicated news content to specialist media sales software. So, with the movement towards a growing number of companies providing their own piece of the pie, offering great choice for resellers and customers, we made the decision to focus and specialise solely on providing the software platform (signagelive) that connects all of the segments together to provide resellers and customers with the tools to manage their digital signage networks from a web browser.
Today, unless you have a clear focus and proposition within the digital signage sector you will drown in the tidal wave of companies shouting ‘me too’ and in most cases these will be either major companies looking to enter the sector or companies high on O.P.M. (Other People’s Money) trying to demonstrate to their investors that they can force the market their way by shouting the loudest and spending the most on marketing.
The segmentation of the digital signage sector is great if you are in a position to embrace and not fear it. An example of this has been our move to support non-pc devices, such as the SMIL open standard player technology developed by IAdea and OEM’d by several major manufacturers. Initially, we developed support for SMIL devices to provide a network managed option for lock and load compact flash devices that make up 80% of all digital signage displays in Retail. However, after seeing the road map for SMIL and other non-PC technology, 2010 will see devices the size of a pack of playing cards offering the same functionality as full blown HD PC’s at a fraction of the price.
In support of our commitment to SMIL and to offer our customer total freedom of choice, we have also developed a SMIL software client that enables signagelive to manage digital signage running on any operating system including Linux, Mac OSX, Windows and Android.
Our decision to concentrate on what we are good at and work in collaboration with others offering their own part of the digital signage eco-system was a great move. We can look forward to the emergence of new industry standards and technology and embrace them to ensure our partners and customers can choose the best technology for their needs without restrictions.