Apparently the rapid growth in the interactive whiteboard market isn’t just a figment of our imagination - Futuresource Consulting reports that 600,000 of these digital white boards have been installed worldwide in 2008, which equates to an overall value of more than $1 billion (US). To recap, today’s typical interactive whiteboard is a high-tech writing surface you connect to your computer and a projector. The projector conveys the image of your computer’s desktop onto the white board and special technology enables you to interact with your desktop through the writing surface. In addition, many interactive whiteboards enable you save what you write on the board onto your computer for future reference. It’s an innovative technology that combines the real-time visibility of a traditional white board with the power of computers and the Internet to amplify your message on a global level and ultimately make school and work a lot more engaging and efficient.
So is the interactive whiteboard a high-tech fad or will the industry continue to grow and evolve for the foreseeable future? On one hand, business is cyclical, and Futuresource reports that sales of interactive whiteboards have slowed down in the UK, where they apparently found an early foothold thanks to Tony Blair’s emphasis on education. However, the same report suggests that interactive whiteboard manufacturers could expand their focus from schools to corporate consumers as well, and that current users who bought the first interactive whiteboards nearly a decade ago may be in the market for a replacement. Prices should also continue to decrease over time as the technology continues to establish itself, making it more affordable and accessible to budget-minded consumers. Personally, as long as people continue to use computers and white boards to work and communicate with each other, I don’t see the hybrid interactive whiteboard falling to the wayside anytime soon.
Posted by Taeho Lim
