Looking out over the vast swath of exhibition spanning the Orange County Convention Center was a bit like peering through a telescope. The need to take in as much as possible yet to zero in on precise details is a balancing act. There were many disparate shiny lights, often interconnected in various overlapping relationships without a singular, all-encompassing connection.
As I took in the landscape, I found myself searching for an overarching theme, yet coming up with many more takeaways than possible to squeeze into one neat soundbite. Feeling as though I missed some major idea staring me straight in the face, a few colleagues confirmed my suspicions. So maybe that is precisely the theme—that there wasn’t one, technologically speaking. Was 2017 the year that the InfoComm community finally moved beyond the box?
Sure there were still plenty of boxes out there—countless encoders and decoders were pervasive—but shimmering glints of experiences shone threw much brighter. The conversations were front-and-center, how the solutions are making everyone’s lives easier with new features; increasingly flexible, open, and scalable software; one-stop shop providers; and bold new pricing plans that look to challenge the status quo and uproot business models. The acceptance of hardware commoditization has hit a breaking point, and AV companies have turned to measuring outcomes with determination.
Was there some major technology theme you noticed at the show? Let us know in the comments.
