[quote=flu]
My point is you are asking the customer (who in this case is the bar owner) who most likely isn’t a geek (he’s a bar owner, not a enginerd), to understand a new technology to sell adds that will require him/her to allow some random company to come in and drill holes in the wall, run electricity in the wall, mount LCD’s screens, probably setup a wireless network to push content to those screens every-so-often, guarentee the network doesn’t get hacked, the LCD’s don’t get vandalized…to display adds to people taking a pee/poop that for at which they will be looking maybe 1-2 minutes….and that this technology is going to make their business more profitable because they can now supplement their core business (selling booze) with dollars paid by advertisers….
I was trying to say a good portion of your customers (not all, but I would say most) are tech-phobic when/if you propose to doing something real simple stuff (like displaying adds) and replacing it with technology…..It’s different than a bar owner buying an ipad or an iphone or a tablet, in that those things have clearly specific uses for those devices…
How is what you’re proposing any different or better from a bar that puts printed advertisements behind a plexiglass mounted above the urinal and regularly changes them, per contract with an advertiser, and not have to deal with all the technology, installation, maintanence, etc? I bring this up, because there are plenty of places (bar and non-bar) that I’ve seen do exactly that…[/quote]
Because it’s a novelty, and animated advertisments make a bigger impression than static ones. Not everyone would be interested, but who cares, if 1 out of 100 is? Restaurants, especially chains, pay big money for specialized decor. There’s a whole industry behind those old license plates and wagon wheels. Hacking isn’t an issue – when there is no input required from the “user”, the firewall can be on the most secure setting and only allow traffic through from one specific source.
[quote]Consider the idea again about putting a few lcd screens on urinals,etc… You now one time installation costs to, mount lcds, run power to these units, install protective glass on these units, and in doing so, have to disrupt the normal function of said urinals while such non-trivial installation takes place…I’m trying to understand how a bar or a business is going to want to have to deal with this sort of disruption, without understand the clear benefit of how he/she could be better off with this idea than mounting a bunch of printed advertisements in the urinal which wouldn’t require massive changes (such as running power,etc to these lcd units).[/quote]
I think you’re making it out to be far more difficult than it would be. The protective glass is built in. The units are self-contained and dirt cheap. If no special wiring is required, installation would require all of a couple hours (outside business hours) for the 2-3 urinals in a typical restaurant. If graffiti/vandalism is an issue, then you don’t put them in places that are prone to that.
[quote]Plus one big disadvantage of this proposed idea is now, you need to deal with maintenance. How are you going to get ad’s on the system? Wireless? So does the business now need to have a wifi network too? Who’s going to set that up and maintain that? What if it’s down.[/quote]
Yes, wi-fi, which a restaurant in this century will already have. If it’s down, they need to call their ISP.
[quote]Also, as much as electronics are getting increasingly more and more reliable, these things will fail.
What if an LCD screen is broken? Who’s going to repair that, and who’s responsibility will it be to deal with calling the repair guy? The bar owner? Do you think he has better things to do that to constantly check if the 15+ or so LCD screens in their urinals are working or not?[/quote]
Again, you’re making more of this than there is. I have never personally seen an LCD monitor fail. I’m sure it happens, but they are one of the most reliable pieces of equipment in a modern office. There is no need for the restaurant owner to “constantly check” the screens. He’ll probably be using the restroom a few times a day himself anyway. A laptop will last 7+ years, and that’s with a hard drive. The restroom screen wouldn’t need moving parts.
[quote]Call it condescending if you want. Perhaps you’re just a bit sensitive about someone else pointing out the issues with these ideas. But if you don’t think these ideas have issues, then prove me wrong by doing it….And if you succeed, that’s great… I’m happy for you….[/quote]
Or perhaps my default position just isn’t pessimism and sarcasm. Of course an unproven idea will have issues. Hence testing and a business/financial plan. We’re just spouting ideas here. I personally think it’s a good idea, but it would require too much initial investment to find out, and I just don’t care enough anyway.
[quote]Lastly, I stand by my statement that most people are tech-phobic in the u.s…….Otherwise you would see targeted coupons/advertisements/promotions based on geo-coordinates and you would see consumers and retailers jump on technology like this….
For instance, do any of you use things like shopkick?
…you’re right – when asking a bunch of middle-aged real estate fanatics. Ask a few thousand teenage girls who are physically attached to their smartphones, and you may get different answers. You don’t need many Yes’s, either. What’s great about Internet businesses is the size of your market. The niche for my online store is vanishingly small, and only one out of tens of millions of people needs my product every day, but I still profit enough that it’s worth the trouble.
