Elephant, Dog, Gerbil (Updated)

There are three aging speeds to consider in every exhibition and experience project: Building Speed, Furniture Speed, and Technology Speed.

1. Building Speed: Good buildings age like an elephant. You shouldn’t need to replace one, or do major renovations, for 50 years plus.

2. Furniture Speed: Furniture, meaning installations and exhibition displays, ages like a dog. It’ll be with you for 10 years, even 20.

3. Technology Speed: Media technology, however, ages like a gerbil. It might even be obsolete on opening day. It's not just hardware. The content ages just as fast.

The aging speed of tech makes it exhausting to own. That's challenging enough.

But building that tech permanently into a project that would otherwise last 20 years ... makes the entire project age faster.

Here’s the thing:
Buildings and exhibits age slowly, but tech ages like a gerbil.

If you need your project to last 10 years or more, don't build your tech in permanently. Make it easily accessed, easily upgraded, easily removed.

Warmly,
Jonathan

P.S. Monday is a holiday: no newsletter or podcast. Have a good weekend.