Are you an early or late adopter?

[+ sam.fitzpatrick]

Yes! Teledildonics will make me an Innovator. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teledildonics

 

That might just do it for me - - sexting in the 2020's?!?!

[Nebost]

For the most part I am an early adopter. I like to try something new, see how it works, play with my new toy. I think I enjoy the discovery part of it even more than actually using/needing it.

The one big exception is social media...I have just never really been comfortable with the privacy aspect of it.

[Epigonos]

Most definitely "late majority". I had an ancient flip phone (which I seldom used) until last December when I finally got fed up and went out and bought a LG Smartphone. I cussed the damn thing, for about two months, while trying to figure out how to use it. Now I absolutely love it and it is with me constantly, in fact I am even seriously considering getting rid of my land line.

When it comes to reading I'm with Charlie. I read books printed on paper and have no desire to get a Kindle, in fact one room in my condo is wall to wall, floor to ceiling bookshelves - I absolutely love paper printed books. I have a television but it is connected ONLY to a DVD player because I enjoy watching movies but that is the only television I watch - I read constantly.

I am a total internet junkie and have been for years. I couldn't exist without online banking and a multitude of other "practical apps". I'm the kind of nut who gets up in the middle of the night and turns on his computer because he can't remember the name of a certain actor in some 1940 film.

I will text if need be but I'm not terrible fond of the process. I must prefer email or the telephone. I DO NOT participate on social media sites. I find much of the communication on these site trite, silly and worthless -- I really don't want or need to see the photographs of the grandchildren of some moron I was in class with in elementary school.

[mike carey]

I can be extreme left of arc or extreme right, or anywhere in between, depending on the thingy that I'm faced with.

• I was au fait with the concept of the internet but only on a work intranet to start with way before I had a home computer.
  
• I have an old phone (with internet access but very basic) that I've had since 2007, not a smart phone. I was given a windows phone 18 months ago, never bought a SIM for it, so could only use it for e-mail with wi-fi. It has died and my old phone keeps on going.
  
• I'm happily on the internet now and use all the banking, bill payment, news, shopping and so on.
  
• I was fairly quickly on Facebook (never Myspace) and a bit more slowly on Twitter. Not Instagram or Tumblr.
  
• I didn't buy a digital set-top box until the last minute before analogue TV shut down.
  
• I don't have a DVD player and never had a VHS player. (I lie, I have a newer TV with a DVD slot and my computer has a DVD drive.)
  
• I love being able to watch TV programs on the Australian ABC's catch up viewer site and to listen to radio streaming, and podcasts of radio programs.
  
• I love paper books and have been buying more lately, but I do have a Kobo account - a newspaper here was giving away e-books so I signed up - but rarely use it even though I have plenty of reading saved there.
  

I guess I'm open to new technology but only sign up when I can see a specific benefit in doing so. Signing up for Daddy's forum being a case in point!

[+ deej]

I'm all over the map.

 

In a previous life, I was a technical trainer. I had to be ready to teach all the new developer products the day they hit the market so I'd spend my daytime in current products and nighttime learning the latest beta versions. A decade plus of that pretty much burned out any semblance of "Type A" behavior I had.

 

I managed to skip the whole pager phase. Just refused to carry one. And I didn't get my first cell phone until a legitimate need presented itself. I was perfectly happy with my flip phone (the last one a Razr) and would likely still carry it until, again, I had a practical need for a smartphone: GPS. I ordered my iPhone the day the 3GS (with GPS) was announced.

 

I ordered the Kindle the day it was announced. The allure of carrying an entire library was too much to pass up. But I still buy about half of the books I buy on paper. These days, I carry an iPad and use the Kindle reader there. The iPad, again, didn't join the party until there was a compelling practical need. (The need: access to email in an office where cell phones are banned but tablets are not. Doesn't make any sense to me either.)

 

There haven't been fewer than two computers in my home (plus whatever I'm carrying for work) since the late 1990s so you might think I'm early all the way but I've always been driven by the practicality I guess.

[+ quoththeraven]

I can be extreme left of arc or extreme right, or anywhere in between, depending on the thingy that I'm faced with.

 

The most coherent explanation yet, though my "it depends" beats it for fewest words. Okay, maybe a little sarcasm here, but only a little.

 

I particularly adore my ereader/tablet. To begin with that was because it's lighter and easier for me to use and transport than a book and also saves book storage space I no longer have. But nowadays as I've upgraded to a newer, more capable version because the first one (which was replaced under warranty once) finally died outside of warranty, I spend more time using it for purposes other than e-reading. When I go places without free, open WiFi, I start getting twitchy.

 

On the other hand, I still don't have an mp3 player. This may have something to do with being given one with limited capacity, trying to use it for voice regarding (like those mini-recorders that were all the rage at one time), and becoming super-frustrated with it. I listen to CDs, YouTube, CDs I've burned to my hard drive, or music purchased and resident on my tablet, some of it for free.

[+ deej]

On the other hand, I still don't have an mp3 player.

 

I do.

 

As a former musician, I dabbled in MP3 players in the pre-iPod days when only geeks could get them to work. That old RCA Lyra served me well, as did the silly little 4MB memory cards it used. (Yeah, that long ago.)

 

Then I ignored them for a while, and finally bought an iPod during a weak moment at Costco.

 

Nowadays I carry an iPhone with WAY more storage than the iPod so the phone serves as my music player but that iPod actually serves a real-life useful purpose for me. It lives permanently docked into my alarm clock. The clock keeps the iPod battery charged, so when we have a power failure I only have to hit the clock's SYNC button and the clock picks up the iPod's time setting.

 

I swear I am not making this up.

[Zman]

I tend to be skeptical of new technology: you know it's going to more reliable, more features, and cheaper the longer you wait. I didn't get a flat screen until 2011. I use a Moto G Android Phone that I've had for a year and a half and that cost less than $200.

 

Speaking of hype: does anyone remember when TVs were sold as being capable of Picture-in-Picture. Does/did anyone ever use this? Yet it was touted for years as the next, best thing.

 

I think internet capable TVs are another overhyped technology. I plug a fully Windows PC into my TV to act as my media server. It can surf anywhere, play anything, and doesn't have all the limits of "smart" TVs.

[+ SundayZip]

...that iPod actually serves a real-life useful purpose for me. It lives permanently docked into my alarm clock. The clock keeps the iPod battery charged, so when we have a power failure I only have to hit the clock's SYNC button and the clock picks up the iPod's time setting.

 

Great idea deej! Never thought I'd use my old iPod again, but I'm docking it to my clock radio now. Can't wait to see if it works for me.

 

Edit post with update (30 hours later): It works!

[gallahadesquire]

I am a late adopter. I bought an HDTV in 2010, which gave me a 60% price reduction (Sony XBR8 ... even the Cable Guy said it was the best picture he's ever seen).

Computer: Commodore 64 in 1984 or so. Mac Plus when they came out. (We had a Mac laser printer, and I could steal time on it). Multiple laptops and desktops that all seem to die.

Phone: Flip phone, 1993. Smart phone 2009.

Internet router: 2013. Along with the roomate. Total 2 smartphones, 2 ipads, one desktop, one printer, Chromecast and Roku 3.

 

I'll note that my iPhone 3GS, which was replaced because (a) AT&T sucked, and (b) Verizon had a great deal on a 5S. That 3GS will hold a charge for under 24 hours. I guess the batteries do die.

Otherwise, I'd use it as an iPod.

[mike carey]

The most coherent explanation yet, though my "it depends" beats it for fewest words.

Absolutely right!! You aced it in the most concise explanation!

[+ Charlie]

I managed to get a new flip phone last year.

[+ honcho]

I'll describe myself as one of the schizophrenic types, sometimes early adopter if it's a promising piece of

professional audio equipment (I have serial #14 of an audio interface that has now sold in the low thousands),

but mostly a definite laggard.

 

Although my first experience programming computers was at the age of 12 (and it was in Fortran!),

and although I made my living at it ever since dropping out of graduate school (age 25), I didn't buy

a personal computer of my own until I was 39, and then only because it was required to drive an

audio editing system. (I also bought a grey-market DAT recorder in 1986).

 

I find cell phones intrusive. Since I use a computer all day I don't want to be dragging one around with me

and definitely need to shut it off for a couple hours to half a day when involved with music gigs.

[+ deej]

Great idea deej! Never thought I'd use my old iPod again, but I'm docking it to my clock radio now. Can't wait to see if it works for me.

 

Edit post with update (30 hours later): It works!

 

Of course, when Apple adopted the Lightning connector (a move I WHOLLY applaud!) they orphaned all of us who have clocks and other docking things that use the old connector. But, as you say, I never thought I'd use the iPod again.

[+ Charlie]

I'll describe myself as one of the schizophrenic types, sometimes early adopter if it's a promising piece of

professional audio equipment (I have serial #14 of an audio interface that has now sold in the low thousands),

but mostly a definite laggard.

 

Although my first experience programming computers was at the age of 12 (and it was in Fortran!),

and although I made my living at it ever since dropping out of graduate school (age 25), I didn't buy

a personal computer of my own until I was 39, and then only because it was required to drive an

audio editing system. (I also bought a grey-market DAT recorder in 1986).

 

I find cell phones intrusive. Since I use a computer all day I don't want to be dragging one around with me

and definitely need to shut it off for a couple hours to half a day when involved with music gigs.

You and my best friend would probably have found a lot in common. He was a hotshot programmer-analyst for the NYSE for 30 years, but he never owned a cellphone or a computer, and never touched one outside his office.

[samandtham]

I'm in the Early- to Late Majority camp.

 

My trusty Motorola Razr conked out some time in 2012, after close to seven years of constant use. I needed a phone, and my only option was pretty much a smart phone at the time, so I paid for an iPhone almost begrudgingly.

 

Nowadays, I let my tech run their course before I replace them. I still have an iPhone 4s, and probably would not upgrade for another year or two. I had Snow Leopard on my 2012 Mac Mini up until late of last year, when most of the programs I need started pulling support for Snow Leopard. Right now, I'm on Mavericks, not Yosemite. Not even interested in El Capitan, unless, like Snow Leopard before it, my hand is forced.

 

My friends are always so amused hearing how much I do not get excited over the latest tech, when I work in the technology industry.

[AdamSmith]

Gartner's latest hype-cycle graph...

 

[+ friendofsheila]

Different people adopt new technology and new technology enabled ways of doing things quickly. Others wait. Think of innovations like the cell phone, tablet computer, smart phone, smart watch, e-books, fitbit, online bill pay, paypal, boarding pass on your cell phone, etc, etc...

 

Where are you on this technology adoption chart?

 

 

http://www.clemson.edu/caah/history/FacultyPages/PamMack/lec323/innovation-diffusion.png

 

I'm probably in the "early majority" group. Once others have worked the kinks out of new technology, I'll jump on. But I'm eager to try sooner as opposed to later.

 

Your image is gone, but I'd say I don't even make it onto the chart. (See below)

 

toward the laggard side of late majority, I guess.....

 

1997: first computer

2004 : first flip phone (still have)

2011: first digital camera (still have)

2012: first flat screen TV and DVD player (still have)

 

 

I made it as far as your 1997. I'm probably on my 3rd computer/first laptop.

No further, though.

[gezellig4u]

I am a very tech savvy and STEM-educated person, but I typically wait a bit for the bugs to get worked out of a new release before adopting.

[AndreFuture]

I used to be really into keeping abreast with latest tech developments. I scoured MacMall catalogues like someone else would read Time. Of course, I was a pool kid with little to no disposable income, so I didn't buy most of what I wanted. Then I went off to college and no longer got the shiny catalogues that were sent to my parents' home, and I started developing social awareness about issues a bit more pressing that consumer gadgets.

 

Nowadays, I couldn't tell you what the latest phone model for which brand is. My main phone is a Nexus 5 (which admittedly needs to be replaced in the enxt month). I still have a functioning Motorola Razr (I see you @samandtham) that I used to use abroad. I definitely wait for bugs to get worked out and hesitate to do software upgrades until I can read reviews and see what functionality I may lose (or on occasion gain). I'm running 10.9.5 on my Mac and it's doing me just fine.

[dcguy20]

Late here!! I resisted getting a cellphone until 2001. I got my first iPhone 3 years ago (and not the most up-to-date model at that). I got my first iPod as a result of winning a drawing at work. I'm intrigued by the iPad, but have not done anything about it!