Volume 11, Issue 1 — January 14, 2019

January 14, 2019 | Volume: 11 | Issue: 1

Did you catch the game-changing product releases out of CES this past week? (And I reallly don’t use the word game-changing very often.) In particuarly, I’m talking about the Samsung MicroLED Displays and the LG Rollable TV technology. Talk about two products that are going to redefine how we integrate systems with a digital signage application.

Dr. Fred Ampel also touches on the globalization of software product development in his most recent column “Scope Creep.” He cites various business journals in saying that India is responsible for more than 50 percent of the $180-billion plus global software sourcing industry. Read more on this below!

Also, be sure to see the blog from Premier Mounts in the Tech Round-Up section. Curtis Rose, marketing manager at Premier, challenges the industry to see ADA compliance as a vision for opportunity. After all, ADA compliance allows every human the ability to experience something the same as any other — it really does make experiences better.

Enjoy!

-Jacob Blount

COLUMNS

+ Let’s Talk About Specs [Leonard Suskin]

At best, a system specification gives clear and complete details on how a system is to function, what equipment it should include, how users should interact with it and how its completion and performance can be verified. At worst, it’s an equipment list and single-line drawing sandwiched between indigestible stacks of boilerplate. I’ve seen too much of the latter in the industry and have been working very hard to produce the former.

+ Scope Creep [Dr. Frederick Ampel]

Any project can become subject to the effects of scope creep, and the larger the initial scope or the longer the timeline becomes, the more likely it is to occur. It's not something you can deal with after it has taken hold, but it is something that must be caught BEFORE it has any substantial or irreversible impact on either cost or design parameters.