Ticker Free Day: Fighting Digital Signage Ticker Abuse #tickerfree2010

By David Weinfeld 

Stock tickers, RSS tickers, breaking news tickers, and their streaming brethren crowd digital screens across the world. With each horizontal pass, tickers strangle digital content.

I came up with an idea that I want to share with the Lost Remote community; an idea so revolutionary that it could change the world forever! (not really, but it could succeed in pushing the digital signage industry forward)

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THE BACKSTORY

I attended my five-year-old niece’s dance recital at a local community college a few weeks ago (she was great, by the way). As I walked into the theater to grab my seat amongst a sea of proud parents and grandparents, I came eye-to-eye with a digital signage monster: “The Dreaded Dual Ticker Digital Sign.” This beast of the technology world was the ugliest I have ever come in contact with (I have not included a picture for fear of it inducing seizures). It had top and bottom tickers moving in opposite directions, displaying the same text. I had to harness all of my strength not to scream out in disgust.

THE IDEA

Tickers, like weather modules, are an enemy of the digital signage industry. Used in moderation, and within the right environments, these elements can function well within a defined programming package. More often than not, however, tickers are used and abused across a range of digital signage networks.

To fight the trend of TICKER ABUSE across the digital signage industry, I propose “TICKER FREE DAY 2010.”

WHAT IS “TICKER FREE DAY 2010”

A day that digital signage networks abstain from using tickers on their displays. TICKER FREE DAY is meant to bring awareness to the rampant abuse of text tickers, RSS tickers, stock tickers, etc. throughout the digital signage industry. By eliminating tickers from their programming for a single day, digital signage organizations across the globe will be coming together to show that networks can function without tickers.

WHEN IS “TICKER FREE DAY 2010”

Friday, July 9th (12am – Midnight)

HOW DO I SUPPORT “TICKER FREE DAY 2010”

Pledge your support in the comments section of this post.

Tweet the message “I pledge to support TICKER FREE DAY 2010: Fighting Digital Signage Ticker Abuse. #tickerfree2010”

Share this post with your friends and colleagues.

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