My Barriers to Technology Adoption

In one of my classes, we're spending a lot of time talking about new technology and just what it takes to get people to adopt it. To use one of the common buzz words, what is that "tipping point" at which technology quickly moves from cutting edge to ubiquitous?

Against this background, I must say that I am always an extremely slow adopter of technology. Basically, I tend to be skeptical of the necessity and long-term viability of any technology until it is firmly established.

I've decided that there are a couple key reasons for this. First, I am very price conscious. Buying into a technology in the first couple generations guarantees that you will pay a premium price. If you wait to adopt it, you will generally get substantially better technology at much lower prices.

Second, and more importantly, I am incredibly lazy. For me, adopting new technology is a lot of work. I'm not the type to go to Circuit City and buy whatever is on the shelf. I want to learn all about the product, decide what the key features are, and then get the best possible price. Then, once I get the product, I have to learn how to use it. All this requires a large time investment, and I really don't like to do all that work if the old technology is working out for me.

So I suppose, unless I become a lot more motivated, I'm going to be the last person to get cool new electronic toys for the foreseeable future.