Talk:Smart Board

THIS NEEDS TO BE DELETED

This is clearly a product marketing piece. Other products offer similar benefits and features. Please SMART marketing person - do not abuse this medium. Wilsontt (talk) 13:00, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Introduction section

This entire section was deleted without comment. Can we reinstate this as well? It describes how the technology works and contains key information. Gnu-gnome (talk) 17:25, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

History and Product Milestones sections

I noticed these two sections have been deleted in their entirety by an unregistered user... can we reinstate them? The history of the product is important -- SMART actually created interactive whiteboards -- and the Product Milestones section traced the evolution of that technology. Gnu-gnome (talk) 19:21, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

Article Neutrality

Is it just me, or does it seem like someone in the company that makes this decided to put their product pitch on the Wiki? In the 2000s article it says something about them "gaining increasing acceptance in schools"

In response:

It is all about your perceptions. Seriously, I would also disagree and I am going to remove the tag and any obvious pitches. They certainly are not the only players but are significant. I was looking to find a link to another product they make/made called a "Sympodium". Again, it is not the only one but I wanted a somewhat neutral place to send somebody for a reference. --Rcollman 21:55, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

I would somewhat disagree. I know a number of schools in the Springfield, IL area that have SMARTboards now, and did not have them a few years ago. Perhaps there could also be increased product sales--and since schools are the company's main market--the assumption could be made that more schools are "accepting" the SMARTboards. DukeOfSquirrels 16:10, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

In response: Independent Market Studies (Decision Tree Consulting)have indicated that Interactive Whiteboards continue to be the biggest trend in educational technology. Over 75% of UK classrooms have one.

SMART is not the only player though. Promethean Activboards seem to have the largest market share in the US and the biggest single deployment of the technlogy in the USA is by Promethean in Sarasota, FL.

In response. According to Decision Tree Consulting, SMART has more market share worldwide than almost all other interactive whiteboard manufacturers combined. See Messenger, Colin. (2007, July 31). Interactive Technologies: Quarterly Insight State of the Market Report. Published by Decision Tree Consulting and available through www.dtc-worldwide.com. CarmenSD 17:25, 17 October 2007 (UTC)

After reading this article now, it still strikes me as very much a pitch for the product. For example, the sentence "You can communicate, monitor or collaborate with students individually or as a group," looks as if it was lifted right out of promotional material. Trimming some of this material would be a long way to NPOV, and adding a criticisms section would help. I've had lousy experiences with this technology myself; I'm sure that a plethora of online materials decrying IWBs in general exist. (iMacWin95, not signed in) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.240.130.72 (talk) 02:54, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

Heh, I personally have had very good experiences with this technology - love it, and find it extremely useful. Regardless, couldn't agree more - this article is seriously POV, and needs to be worked on. _TalkIslander 10:22, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

Further Response

I live in the UK and in our area (Nottinghamshire) we have thousands of these - in our school alone we have one in every classroom, and we have about 120 classrooms; every single board is a SMARTBoard. Every other school I have been to has this brand as well. I think it is fair to say that schools are continuing to use these boards, and I am sure more schools will begin to in the future. 20:05, 23 January 2007 (GMT)

I live in Springfield Pennsylvania, and most of the local school districts have been purchasing them for Large Group Instruction areas. Believe it or not, the article shows a fair view of what is happening in and around the United States.

I live in the Lancaster, SC area, and almost every school in my district has a SMARTBoard, if not every classroom in middle schools. At my school, every teacher will have a SMARTBoard before the year is over, whether he or she likes it or not.  ~Steptrip 13:59, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

Can a SMART employee edit this?

I am an employee of SMART Technologies and a newcomer to Wikipedia. I have been asked to rewrite this article to make it more complete and up to date. I have done so, and my revision adds information about the product's history and technology. I have removed subjective adjectives such as "useful" and "helpful", and I believe my version is more neutral than the present article (not written or endorsed by SMART). That said, I have a couple of questions:

1. Can I, as a SMART employee, edit this article without being accused of COI?

2. Would it be considered unethical or impolite to replace the existing article with my rewritten version?

I would appreciate any advice.

Reply:

I would say that it is fine, as long as it is truly neutral. I worked for a very small non-profit organization over the summer, and part of my job was to update the Wikipedia page. Not only does it make an article more complete, but who knows more about a company/product more than it's employees!

Veronicac-f 20:37, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

I suggest you see Conflict of interest anyway. Kushal 02:29, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

and WP:IAR Kushal 02:30, 15 March 2008 (UTC) :P

Aimed at teachers

• Based on this sentence, and some others, the article appears to be aimed at teachers and school administrators who might want to buy this: The software is easy to use and offers a variety of features that enable you to keep students focused on learning and redirect their attention if they go off track.The key word is you. The only people who would want a product to keep students focused are teachers. (from the SynchronEyes section)
• You can interact with colleagues and customers... (from the Bridgit section)
• The "product milestones" section appears to be more of a list of every product the company has ever made.

Ian01 (talk) 00:59, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

No encyclopedic notability

Wikipedia does not describe individual products, unless notability is clearly demonstrated - and this page provides not a single source. It's a mere collection of selling points and over-detailed product descriptions.

In an encyclopedia, products aren't more important than companies. Compare this content with the pitiful stub on SMART Technologies, for reference… The article isn't even linked from here - instead, there's an external link directly to the company website. In articles on commercial products, this is always a clear sign of undue weight and notability issues.

If these articles can't assert notability as per Wikipedia's content guidelines, delete them. Or if you must, rigorously trim this content down and include it as a broader description of this company's product lines and business activities on the more appropriate SMART Technologies page. 84.129.170.22 (talk) 14:40, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

• I agree with you on several points! I've added several notations to support the content, and also deleted some erroneous content (other SMART software products sold separately from the SMART Board). I do think the SB interactive whiteboard should remain separate from the SMART technologies page though, as they are really two different topics. Gnu-gnome (talk) 22:26, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

free to download?

can u download the notebook software on home computer for free without a smart board. i was just wondering since my school uses smart sofware and i would really like to have smart notebook at home for my personal use, but can i download it if i dont have a Smart product actually at my home —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.161.212.248 (talk) 01:54, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

Please see WP:TALK - talk pages are for discussing the article, and how to improve it, not for discussing the subject itself. _TalkIslander 12:26, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

Image

If anyone is interested, I have uploaded an image to commons. Cheers, Kushal 02:31, 15 March 2008 (UTC)