Someone once said that, “Haste makes waste”. I’m not sure that I universally subscribe to this idea, but in the world of technology integration, there’s a great deal of validity to that statement. There’s another saying that refers to Aesop’s Fable, “The Tortoise and the Hare”, whereas the most anxious and aggressive don’t always come in on top. Well with that said: Perhaps the Early Bird does get the worm, but whether it’s the best and most gratifying worm may be yet another story! These observations carry a great deal of weight with regard to how new technologies are distributed and adopted by today’s consumers.
Today we live in an environment where new product ideas are researched, designed, developed, and distributed to an international consumer base in record time. The research and development phase’s of producing new products and technologies is indeed a costly and time-sensitive endeavor. In fact the practice of developing, producing, and marketing new products to consumers is enormously expensive. Therefore the faster products are marketed and sold, the quicker companies will receive a return on their investment. Both publicly held companies (those listed on the various stock exchanges and are owned by groups of shareholders), and private entities share the challenge of creating a positive cash flow situation as fast and as efficiently as possible. Investors, including stock holders, banks, private equity and other entities, have a vested interest in the rapid diffusion of new technologies to the market. However there are sometimes inherent problems that may potentially effect quality, and the end user (consumer) can be left holding the bag. Therefore the methods with which new products and services are marketed, distributed and sold, may not always in the best interest of consumers.
In the business environment, the approach to adapting new products and technologies is extremely conservative. Businesses rely on efficiency and productivity to turn a profit. They have little time for experimentation and little patience for ironing out problems and other challenges related to organizational change. For example: When new versions of a computer operating system such as Microsoft Windows or a new mobile device such as an iPhone is introduced to the public, information technology professionals are almost paranoid toward immediate plans for any wide-spread adaptation or implementation. Business organizational networks are not social networks. They are mission critical tools for managing data and distributing other important information. A premature introduction of technologies can often prove problematic due to limited research and development, and/or a lack of proper usability testing in “real world” work environments. Therefore it is the consumer base that is often charged with experimenting and uncovering technical issues.
New technologies often fail or are unstable under certain conditions. The perception may be that consumers have a much greater threshold for dealing with problems associated with newly introduced products. For this reason, and by default, consumers who are quick to purchase the latest and greatest products as soon as they become available, often pay a premium in terms of quality and costs. As an early adopter, you may be faced with immediate updates, upgrades and performance and even security issues. Additionally and perhaps more significantly, you will almost surely pay a premium with the highest price for a given product.
Having obtained the latest and greatest new product or gadget may be self-ingratiating in terms of social status and popularity, but in the larger scheme; Ask yourself, is it really worth the extra costs associated with being an early adopter?