The Digital Signage Insider

I came across a nice Digital Signage Primer article at the Digital Media Net Forums talking about some of the ups and downs of the industry.  Unlike a lot of the press being generated from industry insiders (WireSpring aside, of course :), I find this primer to be more or less free of hype, and it takes a fairly critical look at things like business models, infrastructure needs, and use cases for different digital sign networks.  I think they do put too much emphasis on hardware-based solutions, but given that the site is geared towards A/V professionals, I can understand that.  Also, given the complexity of a lot of the software options out there (versus, say, our FireCast digital signage software, which takes 6 minutes and 3 mouse clicks to install) I think that a lot of A/V integrators who have tried to set up digital  signage systems in the past may still have bad memories.

I also came across a website for the Dynamic Signage Consortium, which I'm surprised I haven't seen before.  But maybe it's just really new, since right now it appears to be little more than a collection of headlines and PR blurbs culled from industry sources, and a news feed from Kiosk Marketplace.  Maybe it will pick up where D3 Magazine left off, since that site doesn't appear to be doing anything anymore.  Still, I'm wary of new industry organizations who charge a membership fee for a nebulous set of features and services that they may or may not be able to provide.  Perhaps I'm being too harsh, but you can judge for yourself by reading through their membership benefits.