Empiricism and rationalism come together in the AV industry. Many technicians have learned to carry out the installations through trial and error, which has led manufacturers to train actors in the sector.
By Ana María Restrepo
An old saying goes, "The devil knows more by old than by devil," but how true can this be in those industries or sectors where theory is required to carry out a process, and not just depend on practice and experience?
Different philosophers have discussed throughout history a discussion between the generation of knowledge through reason or empiricism. Some say that the first postulation focuses on rejecting all unfounded or superstitious beliefs, since the only evidence is that provided by reason, while empirical ones are based on experience and sensory perception in the formation of knowledge.
Both concepts are presented as opposing theoretical approaches, but they also represent the daily reality of different professionals and actors of the industries in the installation and integration of the different systems.
Most industries are victims, so to speak, of empiricism, people with vast experience consider that they can install any type of system and make perhaps wrong decisions, without having prior knowledge about the technology and as such of the solution.
Growing industry
In the first Congress and Commercial Exhibition on the integration of audio, video and lighting technologies, TecnoMultimedia 2010, organized by avi latinoamérica magazine, and held from November 4 to 5 in Medellín, Colombia, we spoke with some exhibitors and speakers about empiricism and the lack of technical education in the AV industry in the region.
One of the main drawbacks that arise at the time of making installations is to decide who will execute them and that is when empiricism or rationalism become part of the AV industry.
Most Latino technicians have been made at the point of effort, work and of course experience, many of them have an extensive know-how that has allowed them to learn from new technologies, however they also require training and greater education to avoid making mistakes that are then difficult to correct.
According to Claudius Bezerra, project manager for Latin America at Sony Broadcast and Professional, he commented that training has increased in the region, especially for the realization of events that provide updating spaces for different installers and technicians, as well as professionals.
However, José Darío Vásquez, product manager Visual Unit of Samsung Electronics Colombia, explained that the penetration of new technologies in Latin America is still very incipient and as such there is a process of professionalization and slow learning in the industry.
Trial and error
Most Latinos remember the time when dad tried to repair all appliances, fix water taps, Christmas facilities, among others... and although sometimes it wreaked havoc in the end I learned by rehearsing.
José explains that trial and error and of course empiricism are factors that are experienced in all industries. "Empiricism is a business and it is not bad, the bad thing is that there is no enabling force behind who does it, that is, the integrator."
For his part, Juan Montoya, sales manager for Central and South America at Bosch Communications, explains that empiricism in the facilities offers two panoramas, one positive and one negative. The first is because technicians and industry players are hungry for knowledge, people want to work and there is a lot of manpower. The negative starts from practice, the amount of trial and error and ignoring the installation rules.
For Bezerra, Latino installers and integrators are becoming more and more trained every day. The distribution companies and representatives of the AV industry are the ones that are most supporting the learning of each of the new systems. Chile and Brazil are some of the countries where technological products that require special management are being implemented and commercialized the most.
It also highlights that in the industry two types of knowledge are handled, one the know-how acquired by years of experience, and the other the union of academics and experience in the field.
Training interface
Just as all systems have communication interfaces, it is important to have a training interface that manages to disseminate technical and technological data among the manufacturers of AV systems and professionals and industry players.
Claudius believes that manufacturers play an essential role within the training interface, as they must educate their distributors and integrators about new technologies. "The manufacturer focuses on providing technological talks and on publishing and massifying products and technology, however it is necessary to increase technical courses," he added.
Alexander Gutiérrez, sales representative for the Andean area of Samsung GVI, said that in Latin America there is a process of professionalization, still incipient, but for this reason it is important to have in the region institutions such as CEDIA and InfoComm that support the industry and provide training and education to professionals.
Alexander's comment is complemented by José Vásquez, who stated that customers or end users should rely on integrators when buying some high-tech equipment, since these are the ones who are educated in the subject and have the knowledge of technology.
New technologies, new challenges
The most important thing in terms of training is the union of manufacturers, associations and integrators around the improvement of the industry and especially of the services that each one offers to the final customers.
There is another aspect that should be highlighted and that is that some of the new products and technologies require the services of other industries such as advertising. Bezerra, for example, points out that AV companies must learn from other sectors that complement their technologies, such as digital signage and content production. "In this case, integrators or distributors seek to learn from the subject or partner with companies that can provide these types of solutions," he added.
José Darío emphasized that digital signage technology is just dabbling and taking the first steps. Keep in mind that most establishments use screens to pass photos, videos, but the latter are limited by multiple factors such as format, quality, networks, transmission, a number of aspects that make it difficult to manage the data on the screens, so it is of great importance to choose with certainty the equipment to use.
In Latin America, Brazil, Argentina and Chile lead the use of digital technology, followed by Colombia and Peru, the implementation of new AV technologies is growing by leaps and bounds and every day the number of distributors increases, so the most important thing is to put aside empiricism, start training and venture into this new giant market worldwide, but very new in the region.
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