Remember when the first iPod came out? Apple shook the technology industry to its core with this innovation, and it disrupted the entire music industry at the same time. The iPod was revolutionary, ground breaking, awe-inspiring. And now, looking back, it all seems very “old hat.”  Fifteen years later, it doesn’t seem quite so snazzy. Apple has continued to amaze us with the iPhone, the iPad, and the Apple Watch. No doubt these products will all seem very passé in five to ten years’ time.  And, that’s what makes Apple the powerhouse that it is – the constant drive towards innovation.

The digital signage industry is going through similar changes. LED technology can be used to deliver marketing messages and impart information like never before. Displays can be set up to recognize approaching customers, latch onto their cell phones, and personalize the message to the customers in front of them.  This is exciting stuff!

What’s not so exciting is that the digital display industry has a tendency to lag behind the rest of the technology world when it comes to embracing the new and the now. It’s not uncommon for manufacturers in the industry to still be installing the software they had developed six or seven years ago. Are you still using your iPhone from seven years ago? Nope. Didn’t think so.

Keep in mind that the average lifespan for a digital display may not be what you expect, this number can be quite variable depending upon the manufacturer, that’s why we offer our 6 year Nixel to Pixel Warranty. Your technology is an investment that should be able to grow and evolve as it’s the needs and messages grow and evolve. It’s important when considering buying digital displays what’s going on underneath the hood. Does the display come hardwired with software that can’t integrate with other platforms? How often is the manufacturer’s software or cloudware updated? Does the manufacturer make changes and improvements to the software to meet the needs of the end user? The worst-case scenario is to buy a very expensive piece of digital display technology, only to find that you’re stuck with what you’ve got, and the unit cannot be updated to meet your evolving needs.  This is why technology renewal and Visualization as a Service are also strong options to consider.

At NanoLumens, we build products that are not only physically customizable in size, shape and curvature to our customers’ needs, but offer them the flexibility to use their displays however they see fit. All NanoLumens products offer an agnostic display interface unit – which means our displays are not dependent on any one single media player or software. In short, they can work with anything.

~Joe’ Lloyd
Director of Global Marketing