A poll on Experiate last week questioned the designation of ‘industry’ for the digital out of home ideaspace. I quote:
Do we see ourselves as a unique and growing industry with a specific architecture (rules, regulations, trade shows, organizations) that works in tandem with other forms of communication, like our TV at home, computers, and iPhones?
Or do we see ourselves as an application inside a multi-channel communication culture with standards and practices that we should adopt?
The results thus far (from a fairly limited sample set of 47 votes) favor the latter, but only marginally.
David Weinfeld offers his insight on the close tallies:
“Digital signage is an industry, in and of itself; and digital signage is not an industry… Approaching digital signage from the technology side of the equation, it most certainly is an independent sector. [Yet]… When framing digital signage within the world of media, it is but a piece of a much larger ecosystem. In the same way that the word “mobile” will cease to have meaning in an increasingly untethered world, so too will digital signage meld into a world of free flowing media.”
I have to agree with David here… a “yes to both” is really the only way to make sure the relationship among media in the current climate (DS included) is properly represented. The main takeaway here is far less about the semantic designation and far more about developing an evolving set of best practices that both define DS conceptually within the mediascape, while also respecting the unique technical and UX demands required for successful deployment.
Cast your vote here.
It may be time to rally for a write-in option…
