Ivy Tech’s Steven Combs on Marketing A Business or School Via A Wireless Digital Picture Frame

Ivy Tech’s Professor Steven Combs, AKA local Fox Channel 7 Evansville’s Inspector Gadget, talks with us again about the wireless digital picture frame. Professor Combs is an expert on all things electronic, and his opinion is highly valued.

FrameMedia: How might a business with many regional offices, or a college with many regional campuses, use the wireless digital picture frame to display the same content in all of those lobbies at once?

Professor Combs: At Ivy Tech Community College in Evansville, we have over 30 LCD and Plasma mon itors placed throughout the building to display information to our students. We have all of them hooked up to a MAC Mini, and we create our information slides using PowerPoint. The system works well, and we cover all of the major egresses. All the information pertains to our region, and we have to develop the slides internally.

Now imagine that we could have these supplemented with additional picture frames placed in strategic spots such as financial aid, admissions, marketing, and even our commons areas that have information that is developed at a state-wide location. This information could be contained in a single location to maintain accuracy and timeliness, and then broadcast to each campus. Each frame and its content could be targeted to a specific office. That would be a very effective way to disseminate information.

FrameMedia: So many school functions can not be attended by some people; would a wireless picture frame in the home allow people to watch a basketball game or an orchestra concert or a play, brought to them by a friend with a laptop and a camera phone? Could such things be shown in a classroom or lobby, as well?

Professor Combs: We are now discussing video streaming. I do not see digital frames as the solution for video. Folks want to watch video on their television. I believe that smaller/shorter video clips may lend themselves to the digital frame. Again, we buy larger televisions for extended viewing so we can kick back and relax. I think Apple may provide the solution we are looking for in their Apple TV product. Their solution is to use the consumer’s existing large screen and/or HDTV to display content from the web. I believe that this is a better solution for IPTV and streaming video than the smaller digital frame. Again though, I think short video or monitoring an event is a perfect match for this form factor. Digital frames, need a niche. I think their longevity will result in their not competing with other devices that “do-it-all.”
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FrameMedia is enjoying these conversations with Professor Combs very much. This Saturday is the conclusion to this interview, and I for one will be sorry to see it end. Ivy Tech Community College is certainly fortunate to have Professor Combs on its faculty, and we here at FrameMedia are fortunate to have had this opportunity to talk with him.

Don’t miss the entire interview! Tune in on Saturday!

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