BACK PAGE Rants and ramblings


WE SPECULATED last month that Google Glass would continue to provoke media coverage in the period up to its launch, and we weren't wrong – yes, we’re writing about it again here. It turns out that, based on the experiences of the ‘Explorers’ who have


been using its high-tech specs in recent months, Google has drawn up some do’s and don’ts, some of which relate to etiquette in public places. This strikes us as a sensible thing to do. Wearing glasses that combine video and audio recorders with an online head-up display takes us into uncharted waters socially, and there’s already enough uncertainty about the right thing to do with the technology we have now. For instance, is it acceptable to stick a phone in someone’s face and take their picture on a train, without an excuse-me or other acknowledgement? BBC TV newsreader Huw Edwards has said it isn’t, and he has our sympathies. But surely that is more honest than taking such pics surreptitiously? Anonymous pictures and videos of bad behaviour on public transport – from covert videos of foul-mouthed racist rants at one extreme to pictures of people taking up two seats posted for passive-aggressive revenge – are increasingly becoming a part of public discourse. It’s all a social minefield, it really is. Anyway, back to Google Glass: here are some things that the online behemoth suggests you should and shouldn’t do once you start using the device. Do explore the world around you; do use the voice commands; and do ask for permission before filming people. On the other side of the coin: don’t use Glass for extended periods; don’t use it during high-impact sports; and don’t “be creepy or rude (aka, a ‘Glasshole’)”. Now, isn’t incorporating the name of your brand into an anatomically based insult frowned upon in the world of marketing? It’s just one more example of how Google is rewriting the rulebook.


ARE YOU fed up with the same old Amsterdam hotels during ISE? Blair Parkin of consultancy Visual Acuity was, so he and his colleagues did some out-of-the- box thinking and hired a houseboat. It was moored at Java- eisland, which is near the ends of bus and tram lines – so the team all got seats on the tram to the RAI every morning. The vessel has 12 berths, so there was plenty of room, not only to accommodate Blair and his six colleagues, but also for them to entertain guests one evening. Overall the experiment was a great success, and the boat has been booked again for next year – although a mooring a little nearer to the RAI is being investigated.


HERE’S SOMETHING illuminating that we came across the other day: an alternative to public lighting in the form of a luminescent path surface. Starpath, as it’s called, contains small particles that absorb UV rays during the day and emit visible light at night. It requires no maintenance and can be installed in a few hours – it can be sprayed on to


virtually any hard paving surface. The brainchild of Surrey-based Pro-teq Surfacing (UK), Starpath has been installed in Cambridge with Fulham, south-west London, soon to follow. One can see why local authorities would prefer it to installed lighting, as it incurs no running costs and presumably no maintenance costs either. And we think it looks rather nice as well. The only question we have is – does its performance tail off over time?


Subscriptions to Installation are free to qualified readers. Register online at www.installation-international.com/subscribe


Installation is published 12 times a year by Intent Media London, 1st Floor, Suncourt House, 18-26 Essex Road, London N1 8LR, England Editorial tel +44 (0)20 7354 6002 Sales tel +44 (0)20 7354 6000


Circulation & subscription enquiries Tel: +44 (0)1580 883848 Email: installation.subscriptions@c-cms.com


Editor: Paddy Baker paddy.baker@intentmedia.co.uk Managing editor: Joanne Ruddock jo.ruddock@intentmedia.co.uk Deputy editor: James McGrath james.mcgrath@intentmedia.co.uk Head of design & production: Adam Butler adam.butler@intentmedia.co.uk


66 March 2014


Sales manager: Ian Graham ian.graham@intentmedia.co.uk US sales – Executive vice president: Adam Goldstein agoldstein@nbmedia.com Production manager: Evan Graham evan.graham@intentmedia.co.uk Digital content manager: Tim Frost tim.frost@intentmedia.co.uk


Publisher: Steve Connolly Managing director: Mark Burton Contributors: Mike Clark, David Davies, Kevin Hilton, Ian McMurray, Steve Montgomery


Special thanks: Giovanni Aiello, Bob Snyder


© Intent Media 2014. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission of the copyright owners.


Printed by Pensord Press, Wales


ISSN: 2050-6104 (print), 2052-2401 (online)


www.installation-international.com A sister title to SCN


Intent Media is a member


of the Periodical Publishers Association


Bits and pieces from the editorial cutting-room floor


ADVERTISERS Words of wisdom from the Twitterati INDEX


Adder Technology.....................7 Albiral.........................................61 Apart Audio..............................29 ASL................................................3 Ateis...........................................41 Atlas Sound.............................39 Audio-Technica.......................12 Basalte......................................55 Blackmagic Design...................9 Bosch................................. 17, 25 Community Professional..... 27 Control4....................................58 d&b audiotechnik...................15 Datapath...................................43 Dexon........................................... 7 Earthworks...............................48 Faital...........................................61 Gefen ........................................29 Hetec.........................................59 Humantechnik....................... 31 InstallAwards...........................65 InstallMarket.....................34-35 Kramer.......................................19 Leyard........................................63 Lightware....Inside front cover Matrox.......................................33 Meyer Sound................................. ....................Outside back cover Mitek..........................................51 Mitsubishi Electric..................30 Mode-AL...................................... 4 Nebula..........................................5 Opticis........................................37 Peavey.......................................57 QSC.............................................47 Rane...........................................49 Ricoh..........................................46 Riedel....................... Front cover Shure....................10, 11, 20-21 Sommer Cable.........................23 Taiden...........Inside back cover TOA.............................................53 Troostwijk....................................6 Vaddio........................................45


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68