Scala Agrees with Competitor on Player Platforms

By Andrea Waldin, VP, Marketing, Scala, Inc.

It's unusual for one competitor to agree with another. It's even more unusual to write about it. But Andrew Stark of Tightrope makes some great points in his March 2009 blog entitled, "In Defense of Windows as Digital Signage Players".

Here's my quick paraphrase of what Andrew writes:

• XP devices are the simplest to administer since they are wide spread and widely understood platforms already in use in most organizations.
• Proprietary boxes are only as dependable as the company selling them. Be aware that the price today may be right - keeping those proprietary platforms up to date can be a real challenge.
• Non-PCs don't have the same availability of compatible products like video cards, drivers, chip sets, etc.
• XP does have some security issues, but those are virtually irrelevant to digital signage players based on XP since those vulnerabilities are mostly related to user actions and unpatched machines. 
• The Windows platform is just as stable as any other platform. Viruses exist for Macs and Linux has its own set of issues. All platforms are roughly equally flawed. Nobody's perfect.
• Apple isn't a good choice for a DS player, unless of course you install XP on it.
• XP is the most mature platform out there.
• Sometimes non-PC players do make sense - they are limited, but often less expensive and if that meets your needs - then non-PC players may be right for you.

I think Andrew sums it up best when he says "So, is there a place for small, non-PC players? Absolutely! If you need something simple or to play only a known video codec, then a PC may be overkill. Some people prefer the Linux approach either because they are familiar with it or because it's often cheaper to buy. All of that is true and a PC is an excellent, stable and extremely simple-to-manage platform for digital signage players."

So while it may be odd for me to quote a competitor, I firmly believe in what Andrew is saying here. PC-based players make a lot of sense for most customers. There are certainly situations where non-PC players make sense as well, but default answer should most likely be a PC.

Comments

[Waldorf hotel London]

Great post. Andrew presented interesting points.

[digital signage software]

Well said and a great article. Very persuasive. I like it

[digital signage software]

This article made me think. Great piece of writing.

[Neil Farr]

Well said!

It is a question so often asked by prospective network operators 'what platform', yet many do not understand the reason for the question and have either read it on one of their potential supplier's pages, or have a Linux ‘geek’ eager to get involved with a large project.

As you say above, the main issue isn't the cost (yes, some Linux variants can be free), but more of the operational costs caused by the rarer experienced support staff, the lack of supported drivers for new hardware and technologies (so you either get left behind or are reliant upon only certain supported technologies), and the level of goodwill offered by people who will support you with those technologies (as the GNU freeware Operating Systems are often maintained by professional hobbyists).

As the industry is becoming more professional, it is unrealistic to expect to run on what is essentially a free platform. As people in the UK say ‘you don’t get something for nothing’.

Yes, Microsoft get a lot of people digging – but it is because it IS the world’s most used operating system that there are so many people who want to make viruses or hack it. Of course, although there are people at Microsoft who close these loopholes and remove the bugs (for free), if you set up your technology properly in the first place, these should be minimal to you anyway – including the ‘blue screens’ and the ‘virusses’. Many people’s experience with Microsoft are also when using XP Pro or XP Home on their units, the compare the speed to a cut-down version of Linux (when in fact Microsoft have a version specifically for it known as XP embedded which removes most of the rubbish you don’t need).

As you say above, it really is down to your requirements – at the recent Digital Signage show in London, there were a range of technologies from the simple Linux or ‘solid state’ players, through Windows applications and even a number of Sony Playstation 3s showing off their 3D ability. And with Google’s Operating system coming out, there will be more choice. But it still comes down to understanding the requirements of your network of screens and matching it against the application being offered – the Operating system is really more for the application developers to worry about – and if there is any cost impact, you can include that with your budgeting vs. requirements.

And just in case the above looks a bit biased... our applications are more often than not written for Windows, but as custom developers also, we also have developed for Linux, Java, and Windows CE platforms.