The special anniversary edition of Installation is a double celebration, as the magazine is hitting its 25th anniversary in the year that ISE celebrates 20 years in business!
The AV industry has certainly witnessed huge changes since ISE’s modest debut in Geneva, but it’s incredible to think that Installation began its publication journey in not just a different century, but a different millennia!
In 1999, I was busy editing consumer AV title Home Entertainment; soon to be acquired by Installation publisher Future. The internet was still in its infancy; early smartphones were frankly not smart at all; everyone was stressing about the so-called Millennium Bug; and the UK was still confident that things really would get better, two years into a New Labour government. More innocent times, perhaps.
By the time ISE debuted in Geneva in 2004, I was editing What Home Cinema (also soon to be acquired by Future!) whilst self-publishing residential B2B magazine Home Cinema Digest; which was a good fit for what was, at the time, more of a residential than a pro AV trade show. Less innocent times by this point, following 9/11, but certainly buoyant times: the 2008 crash was four years away; Brexit and Covid just future nightmares.
Now, as we prepare for ISE 2024, we can confidently look ahead to a return to pre-Covid levels of success for ISE and AV in general, although the world is in an even more precarious state than we could have even imagined back in 1999 or even 2004. But we move forward, very much business as usual now, to a bright, shiny new ISE, and hopefully a brighter future.
Our special celebratory edition includes an in-depth preview of ISE 2024, a report on corporate AV, a deep delve into interactive tech in museums, and an update on virtual reality – alongside the usual raft of commentaries, interviews and installations. You can access the digital edition below. Print editions will land on subscriber doormats and desks from today, and will be widely available at ISE.
Enjoy the issue. I hope to see you in Barcelona.
