DIT Bits

Between InfoComm and a two week vacation, I’ve been away from work for just about three weeks. Seems like forever. It has been a while since I’ve had the chance to really relax; having a great staff to handle what comes up during my absence is a real blessing. I don’t want to be thinking about IT projects while paddling in big whitewater. Thanks, people.

I composed the rest of this post while at InfoComm and thought I would share it with you even though it was marinating on my desktop for a while.

“So I’ve finally hit the wall after two days on the show floor at InfoComm. After walking past hundreds of booths and thousands of products, here are a few initial reactions:

The capabilities of teleconferencing products are spooky powerful. Life size HD images are displayed on huge screens in a comfortable setting with fine furniture and great audio, and dead easy to use. It’s more like science fiction than science fiction.

Projection technology is evolving at a stunning pace. I saw the first bulbless projector using the Luminus PhlatLight LED technology. I also saw a rudimentary projector built into a cell phone (acceptable performance and cost for these is said to be 12-18 months out). 2500 lumen projectors are now the size of a netbook. 3D projection systems, complete with goofy glasses, are entering the market. Advances in short throw lenses are making installation cheaper and easier. Six months is a long product cycle now. I remember paying nearly $3000 for 1500 lumens and XGA resolution just a few years ago.

Everyone is in the interactive whiteboard market. There used to be a handful of vendors in this space; now there are hundreds, and they all have their own software. Have fun with that.

Plasma still has the best picture in the flat panel market. No contest.

So that’s the big picture stuff. Here’s some “little picture” stuff:

- I saw a collaboration software package I liked a lot called Tidebreak. It lets groups of people around an LCD display share what’s on their screen with the screen and each other. Simple, easy to use, platform agnostic. It’ll be a great fit for the library, the language lab, and most other places where small groups are working on a project together with computers.

- Anchor Audio has a decent portable audio loudspeaker system with 2 wireless and 2 wired mike inputs each with a volume control and a PA speaker that folds into a rolling case. It puts out 70 watts running off the rechargeable on board battery or 300 watts running off AC power. Could be a good fit for athletic events, student gatherings, and skits and plays in classrooms.

- Spectrum still makes the best laptop carts. Bretford still doesn’t get it. They keep improving everything else about the cart, but you still need to be a contortionist to get at the laptops in the 20-unit cart. You’re  still stuck with vertical slots on the larger cart that ensures the laptops will bounce around in transit. Nobody makes an a/v cart that will handle a document camera, laptop, and projector in an elementary classroom where the teacher wants to use it sitting down and maybe have kids come up to use it, too. They’re all the size of an SUV with cheesy flip up shelves bolted on to the sides. When a plain old kid-sized table is still the best option for this, something is very wrong. Are you listening, cart manufacturers?”

Posted on July 9th, 2009 by Curt Lieneck
Filed under: General Interest