Some say the industry is so old and conservative that print is still important.
Well, even a print trade magazine is now admitting this is no longer true.
Online ********* *****
******** ******* **** ********, "*** ******* **** ****** *** ****", ****** **** **** "******* ******* **** **** **** ****** to **** ***** **** ** *****."
Trade **** ****** ******* ***
**** ** ******* ***** **** **, checking***'* *** ***** ***, ***** ****** ******* ** ****:
** ********, **** *** ***%+ ***** monthly **** *****, ********* **** **** views * **** **** *** ** a ***** (**,*** - ***,*** *** IPVM ****** ** **,*** *** *** monthly). ****, *** ** **** *** 90%+ ** **** ** ******'* ****.
*** *** ** *** *****. ******** trade ******** ****** ********** ** ********* ********* ****. For *******, ******** ***********~*** **** *********** *** ***** *** SDM **********~*** **** ***** *** *****.
Lack ** **********
*** **** ****** ** *** *** poor ***** *** ******* ** * lack ** **********. **** ** *** publish **** ******** *******. ******* ** re-writing ***** ******** **** *** ****** many ** ****. ***** ********* ** criticizing ******** ******* ***** ***** ********* dull *** *************.
** ******, *** ******** ********* ** advertising. ***** *** **** *** *** people ** *** ******** ******* *** too *** *********** ******* ** *** a ******* ** ******* **** ********** when ********** ****** *** ** ***. And ***** *** **** ***** **** bastion, ** **** ***** *********** ***** pay ***** ****** **** *** *********** crazy compared ** ****** *** *********** ****** (e.g., ********'* ********* ** * ***** ************ Marketing *****).
Bad **** *** ********
****, ** ***** **** ********* ** neither **** *** *** *** ******** nor ****. ** ******** * ********** apathy ***** **** / **** ******** people *** ****** **** ** ***** about ******** **************.
Alas, we think this situation is neither good for the the industry nor IPVM. It reflects a widespread apathy among many / most industry people who rarely read or learn about anything professionally.
Apathy is actually the enlightened response to material that is dull, uninteresting, unoriginal and biased.
That's an optimistic interpretation...
My alternative: Why Is This Industry So Damn Anti-Intellectual?
I'm not sure the evidence supports the conclusion.
Two main points you make, IMHO, are:
So, IF the rags had better content we would expect more interest, yes/no?
On the other hand, the Anti-Intellectualism attitude of the industry is unmistakeable. Although I would not dare call myself an intellectual, I am certainly an strident Anti-Anti-Intellectual. ;)
Some possible reasons for the apathy:
Sucessful Security is a non-event.
The strongest detterent leaves no trace of its effectiveness, except for the absence of attempts.
Perfect Security is Perfectly Boring.
Sucessful Security is a non-event.
However, successful security does not come about via a lack of intellect.
There are a lot of "easy" installs in burg, fire, video, access that don't require heavy lifting in the thought department. But there are also enough jobs (or, at least opportunities) that require creative solutions or application of knowledge to really get to something that would be called a "successful" solution.
Personally, I have found that a lot of dealers/integrators rely on the manufacturer to do design and recommendation for jobs that fall outside of a very basic template. Too few are willing to apply their own thoughts to the process. This is also understandable because we have too many manufacturers in the industry. Even with ONVIF, if you pair Camera A with VMS B, and it doesn't work as expected the dealer is left to do a lot of finger pointing and debugging. It's in their best interest to let the manufacturer(s) propose a solution and a BOM, so that if anything goes wrong they can avoid blame.
In other words, I think in many cases manufacturers are ultimately to blame for the position we find ourselves in at times. The whole "give a man a fish..." story.
"Personally, I have found that a lot of dealers/integrators rely on the manufacturer to do design and recommendation for jobs that fall outside of a very basic template. Too few are willing to apply their own thoughts to the process."
Unfortunately, I have to agree with your assessment as it is quite commonplace. Partly this may be derived by the integrator's estimators or engineers not having any actual hands on time with the product. I have seen many firms that once the design is done the technicians are doing the configuration of equipment and/or calling manufacturer support to have support perform the configuration. It's a disturbing trend I have seen repeated over and over.
Moving beyond the basic system template to educate the end users would not only generate more revenue but also create a more functional system that allows the end users to be more effective in their roles. For example, I have a client that is looking for to perform installations in a large multiple retail outlet facility. Retail analytics seems like a natural add-on to this and could generate quite a bit of non-installation revenue. As an industry we have to move beyond just installing cameras, recording them, and calling it a day.
Copying or re-writing press releases does not excite many to read.
Not only that, because most companies bludgeon social media outlets with any release, you'll see variants of the same "story" arrive via email, twitter, linked-in posts and re-posts and 4 or 5 online publications.
It's not just that the core content lacks unique information, it's that the information comes at you from 5 or 6 different avenues.
Brian, I believe the industry trade publications all use the WUPHF platform for social media delivery...
Ironically I think, the IT world has this same problem but hasn't really woken up to it yet. The fact that most IT publications are pay-to-play and no one really thinks to criticize the traditional big name players or the sources they get there information from. There is still a large based of "anti-intellectual" IT people who profess higher learning degrees are useless and they have experience so they don't need any certifications. The IT version of the trunk slammers.
And not just anti-intellectual, but anti-professional. IT people working with large organizations with "Manager" and "Director" titles who wear old jeans and T-shirts to work like they are going out for a beer afterwards. They lament the falling pay rates for IT professionals and wonder why and never stop to think if they look like any random Joe Blow off the street why that maybe people are not going to take them seriously when they ask for a salary or raise.
"They lament the falling pay rates for IT professional..."
Some people just like to complain:
