How do we choose the mobile platform?
Pros & cons of:
Museum Specific
Pros |
Cons |
Usually a robust and reliable player, designed for mass-use in museums |
Requires equipment storage, maintenance, security, checkout & staffing |
Content delivered from internal memory | Set UI (in most cases) |
Can deliver higher quality (in terms of sound/images) and more complex content from local memory |
Cost? If content production is outsourced can be more expensive than an in-house production (but also more professional) |
Can outsource end-to-end solution competitively to a range of companies |
Can be expensive, difficult to make solution pay for itself let alone yield a profit, especially in free and smaller museums |
Familiar to visitors and generally intuitive to use |
Prejudices and habits are set: people tend either to be audio tour takers or not, and usage is historically only by a minority of visitors. |
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Cellphones
Pros |
Cons |
Availability |
Unlikely to be used by foreigners or people on 'pay-as-you' go plans (tend to be young people and people on lower-incomes) |
User familiarity |
Requires the visitor to use their minutes; some visitors may not want to use up phone battery by taking a lengthy tour |
Wide range of data-reporting and visitor interaction services available from many vendors, e.g. voting, subscribing/joining via SMS, reporting on usage through Google Maps mash-up... |
UI not flexible/adaptable |
Does not require investment in hardware or staffing on part of museum |
Cell phone reception issues |
Some solutions allow museum to upload and/or record content for the system in-house |
Quality of audio playback on the phone may preclude much use of music, sound effects, etc. - may be limited to simple productions with lower production values |
Platform driven by constantly-evolving & competitive market so improvements in features & functionality to be expected |
Video phone not as prevalent |
Can be low-cost in terms of start-up investment and cheap to maintain |
If museum is paying for the calls, can be a 'victim of its own success' if take-up rates exceed budget for calls. |
Some vendors can charge end user for calls to cover call costs, either per-call or 'all you can eat' access for a fixed time period |
Visitors may be less likely to take cellphone tour if they have to pay beyond their minutes. |
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iPhones/iPod Touch
Pros |
Cons |
Flexible UI (either through browser or SDK App) |
Availability (unless you check them out) |
Accessibility (larger font size, color choices, etc.) |
WiFi reliability if delivered through browser |
Devices are commercially available from a major, reliable and innovative manufacturer |
Manufacturer's business model is predicated on rapid obsolescence: Apple has little incentive to guarantee durability in mass use or forward-compatibility of devices |
Popular handset - sexier image than traditional audio tours |
Some may find the new technology intimidating; can take time for first-timers to learn to use the device |
Possibility to download content on-site through iTunes to own device through wireless network for local playback (more stable than wireless streaming) |
Downloads through the on-site wireless network may take longer than visitors are willing to wait. Visitors may not have enough free memory on their own devices to download content. |
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Access to other applications hard to restrict. |
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iPods/MP3 Players
Pros |
Cons |
Availability |
Requires user download at home or a docking station |
Visitors may prefer using their own device |
Fixed UI |
Permits instantaneous playback of high quality (large file size) stereo content |
UI may not be easy or intuitive for all visitors, nor suit all content (e.g.scrolling through menus of large museums with many artworks and galleries) |
If provided on-site, the newness and design appeal of the devices may encourage visitors to try the tour |
If devices are handed out on-site, it may take longer to teach users how to use the new devices |
Allows stable playback experience of locally-stored content |
Security concerns - possibility of device theft |
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