Technology Adopting

[ToeJam]

I love my iPod but I think Cell Phones are still a Fad and I rarely use mine.
It’s more like a portable answering machine for me…
So I’m a late adopter. I fear change.

[Snowboarder_Bo]

@Umbriel2

We generally don’t replace gratuitously, though we can make an exception when increased functionality makes something arguably more than a replacement.

There’s also the issue of whether the new features of a technology seem useful enough to justify the cost.

This pretty much sums up how I do it.

I used to be an early adopter, but I got burned too many times: breakthroughs drop prices by 80% within 1 year; new features for less money within 1 year, poor construction on first models, etc.

Since then I tend to wait 2-3 years before adopting, and then really only when my old item is worn out or the increased functionality makes it very worth doing.

[BigT]

I generally buy when I think the price is right. While this is never option 1, it is often option 2 or 3.

I mean, if I wanted to, I could still use my computer from 1999.

[Hari_Seldon]

I was an early adopter of computers (1982) because I had a serious need for it. I got a cell phone only a year and a half ago, again that was the first time I had a serious need for it. My CRT TV just fagged out last summer and now I have a shiny new LCD TV (but only 26", the old one was 20"). I was late to get a DVD player (about five years ago) and didn’t have cable TV till around 1990. I got DSL in 2000, which is probably a bit early, but I had an obvious need.