But even with all the positive things going on, I still see room for improvement. So here is my '08 wish list:
- Content that doesn't suck. No matter where I go, I see stuff that's been thrown together without any regards for the screen resolution or there is too much material displayed on too small a screen. If it's showing more than one crawling ticker, I look elsewhere.
- PC hardware that is adapted to digital signage and easily upgradeable. It's really hard to find good hardware to support your digital signage rollout. Some of the equipment out there is not suited for 24/7 - 365 use. This is partially due to the higher cost of ruggedized equipment but good, single purpose PCs are hard to find. When you do find suitable equipment, it's very hard to upgrade the components since these are mostly small form factor, fanless boxes. The better the integration, the more difficult it is to upgrade them. Someone should come up with a solution to this problem.
- More OS choices. Lots of people are building their digital signage solutions for Windows and Linux but OS X based solutions are still not available. You would think that the Mac Mini would make a great little digital signage player. How come Apple isn't on top of this? Don't get me wrong. I'm a Windows weenie but competition isn't a bad thing. It forces everyone in the business to innovate.
- More content choices. I still haven't found a DS software application that supports native Photoshop files. A few applications will let you display PDFs but it's never easy. Some are beginning to support Microsoft's Silverlight (Flash-killer app). Come on guys... give the content authors what they need. It's not all about showing video.
- Better, smarter implementations. It's one thing to hang a big-ass screen above a cash register (because it's easy to see) and another to actually position each screen for maximum ROI. It's not always about the size either. A smaller display at eye level also works. Come on people... think outside the box!
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