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If you take another look at the figure, the highest correlating factor isn't whether the "gadget" (by which they mean consumer technology, not any specific devi
by laughinghan 15y ago
If you take another look at the figure, the highest correlating factor isn't whether the "gadget" (by which they mean consumer technology, not any specific device) is for "consumption of entertainment" or "communication or production of media", as the text of the article suggests. It's simply how complicated the technology is--dare I say, how innovative the technology is--and the reason is simple: the more innovative the technology, the longer it took from first being "on the market" to becoming mature enough to be widely adopted.
(How does one count length of time "on the market", anyway? What counts as the first cell phone "on the market"?)
So what this is really saying is: the more advanced the technology, the longer it takes for the technology to go from early-adopter to mass market.
- pretz 15y agoAlso, more advanced technology is going to be much more expensive when it first hits market than simpler refinements on existing technology. The boom box was a significant price reduction from the standard hi-fi setup of the 70s. Cell phones, on the other hand, were prohibitively expensive for many years after their initial introduction.
- brudgers 15y agoIt depends on what considers to be a boombox. A strong case could be made for the Panasonic Dynamite 8-track player from the early/mid 1970's. [http://lh6.ggpht.com/-6pUpoW8QOVY/TyVslmmS4gI/AAAAAAAAI2k/HP2RqkD6SnE/s1600-h/dynamite%2525208%252520track%252520player%25255B2%25255D.jpg http://lh6.ggpht.com/-6pUpoW8QOVY/TyVslmmS4gI/AAAAAAAAI2k/HP...] I don't recall seventy percent adoption of boomboxes in 1982.
- amirmc 15y agoI think I get your point but I don't think it entirely matches the graph. Is an answering machine more technologically advanced than a portable CD player? Edit: What I'm really trying to get at is that there are so many factors that go into adoption. Trying to sum it up by how 'advanced' the tech may be is a gross oversimplification
- rosser 15y agoThe GP said complicated, not advanced. A CD player is much less complicated for the "VCR clock has flashed 12:00 for the last four years" crowd than an answering machine.
- amirmc 15y agoPlease re-read his last sentence. Also, this doesn't really affect my point. Complicated, advanced, cheap, fashionable, etc are all valid factors in how/why things get adopted. Picking out one of them, on the basis of a graph, oversimplifies things.