The research makes for interesting reading and suggests that display innovation is not only being held back by a lack of experimentation but by the habits of engineers.
Despite 83% of those questioned saying that ‘innovating new product features’ was an important priority and 66% agreeing that the choice of display has a major impact on the end design of their product, just 20% were actually conducting a rigorous assessment of display technologies as part of their design projects.
In fact, 10 per cent of those questioned said that they never review or refresh display technology.
Given that Plastic Logic have a certain stake in engineers embracing fresh ideas - they have developed a light-weight, low power e-paper technology - it's still disappointing to find that engineers, despite ranking ruggedness (37%), outdoor readability (31%) and power consumption (30%) as the three most critical elements of the display specification, are experimenting so little with new technologies, whether e-paper or anything else for that matter.
As the report concludes 'clearly more work needs to be done to educate engineers and stimulate experimentation."
According to Tim Burne, CEO at Plastic Logic, the findings of the report were rather surprising, “given how much time we as users spend engaging with ‘screens’ at home, at work or on the move, that we remain beholden to a very similar looking set of ‘me-too’ products. Product design – and in particular display design – is repeatedly being approached from the same conventional and limited angle.”
The display certainly provides an opportunity for engineers to be more innovative and they should be looking to push beyond their comfort zones and be looking at different display technologies, especially when it's so important to differentiate in a crowded and competitive market.
One piece of good news for Plastic Logics though, some 60% of engineers indicated that they were likely or very likely to try e-paper in the future.
