Late adopter/Early adopter

I'm a late adopter when it comes to technologies. About a year ago I finally got my first smartphone -- a blackberry -- and the smart phone thread just had me confused as all hell.

I got a GoogleReader about a year ago as well, and finally organized it into different categories about a month ago. Before that -- even though there was already fark, del.ic.ious or whatever, reddit and all other kinds of news gathering sources -- I was still having to remember which websites I liked and type the web address in every time.

I'm just now figuring out how to use GoogleDocs, and have yet to put this easy technology into practice.

I have a MacBook Pro, and embarrassingly only use it for Microsoft Office, PowerPoint, itunes and the internet.

I've never listened to, or even understood the draw of, a podcast.

That being said, I was one of the first to get a Gmail account (back when you had to get an invitation), and I've been on facebook since you needed a college E-mail account (refreshingly, I deleted my account about a month or two ago).

FOCUS: What are you a "late adopter" with?
ALTERNATE FOCUS: What were you an "early adopter" with?

 

I'm a habitual late adopter. The only flat-panel displays in my house are attached to my laptops - everything else is CRT, baby. The first Apple device I ever owned was an iPod 5.5G, so I was pretty late to that party. Even so, I scraped the Apple firmware off of it to run Rockbox on it (seriously, fuck iTunes). I also waited until the 3GS to get an iPhone, but I run the Apple software on it, though begrudgingly.

I did have one of the earliest consumer-grade digital video cameras though.

 

Focus: I didn't get a Nintendo until 2001. NES, old school, my junior year of high school.

Anti-Focus: I started using computers in the late 80s, when I was about 5 or 6; freaking Tandy. I got on Facebook within a couple weeks of it coming to my school (remember when it had to be released for individual universities?). And, for better or worse, I got introduced to the pick up community about two years before The Game was published. I don't know if I count as an "adopter" though, since I still didn't get laid for a while. Given what most communities guys are like, maybe that actually does make me an adopter...

 

I just now bought an ipod to plug into my car. I've been using cd's forever and an fm tuner for my pos mp3 player, but no more. I just have to buy the right cables to plug into the thing and I'll have music and movies whenever I want!!

And this is my first smart phone that I got a few months ago. I couldn't justify spending $100 a month on cell phone internet access, but I can now.

The world is changing, time to adapt.

 

Honestly I'm probably somewhat of a luddite considering all the popular technology I don't use:

-I have a basic cell phone with texting turned off, because paying extra for something I hate is a pretty stupid idea in my book. I don't see the need for a smartphone.
-I don't use facebook or any other social networking sites, nor do I have any desire to.
-I don't own an ipod or similar device.
-I own a digital camera because I got it as a Christmas present, but that didn't stop me from putting it unopened on a shelf for over a year. I finally took it out of the box but haven't done anything with it.

On the other hand, I got an LED monitor pretty much as soon as they came out, and replaced all of the TVs in my house with LCDs. I like what I'm watching/playing to look pretty.

 

I'm a late adopter, mostly for financial reasons. I can justify spending money on pretty much any other things that I don't need, but for whatever reason I am extremely reluctant to ever spend money on electronics/technology. There are very few things I've been enthusiastic about upgrading to. The main exceptions I can think of were laptops, non dial-up internet and smart phones (which I still don't have, because I don't feel like paying for a data plan). I can still remember my initial curmudgeony reactions to new technologies over the years. I was skeptical about the need for DVDs, DVR, iPods, all of which I consider a necessity now. I still am not buying Blu-rays, digital readers or what's so great about the iPad though. We'll see in a few years.

On the other hand, I am/was extremely susceptible to fads. I was all about pogs, tamigatchis, pokemon cards, slap bracelets and all that as soon as I started seeing people get into them. I'm sure if I was 14 now I'd have an arm full of silly bands. I'm not sure what the equivalent is now that I'm slightly adult. Maybe keeping up with fashion trends. I also glommed on to all of the social networking/interweb things that people do very early. I was the first person I knew to have a Myspace, Facebook, Livejournal and my own blog. The big exception is Twitter, but I'm trying to get into that now mostly to use as a marketable skill.

 

Id say my family would be early adopters as well. My parents had computers sine the 80's, updating them every few years. The also bought the best video camera and vcr of their era (the big dirty old kind where the whole cassette goes in the side, fucking thing weighs a ton) They bought me and my brother N64 when it first came out. My dad bought the first DVD player when it first came out, as well as the newest 52" bigscreen projection TV. They had cellphones since they first came out. They bought me and my brother gameboys through the years, then cd walkmans, then mp3 players, then laptops (that was pretty cool, being the only 8th grader with their own laptop).

 

I'm definitely a bit of a laggard since I'm so cheap. I still have a phone that doesn't connect to the internet, I still use a six year old Ipod my dad won at a work event even though the battery barely lasts an hour and the screen is almost completely destroyed from being smashed by a dumbbell, though this will change the next time Woot or Amazon has a good Ipod deal. I also wait until at least the first big price drop on any new video game system (kicking myself now for waiting until the PS3 was no longer compatible with PS2 games).

On the other hand I have two big screen TV's (37" LCD and 55" LED) that I got fairly early in the game, two top of the line laptops with blu-ray players and a netbook.

 

There aren't a lot of incentives to being an early adopter of tech.

Prices are sky high and first gen products usually have a ton of glitches. Why not wait a bit, and get a significantly better product at a cheaper price.

Then again, you don't get bragging rights, but that's pretty lame anyways.

Focus- I don't understand the demand for 3D tvs.

You want to buy a whole new set so you can wear uncomfortable, expensive glasses and get a headache after an hour?

No thanks. Even when glasses aren't needed, it's still not something I can watch for an extended time without getting a headache, and I don't even think the 3D is that impressive.

 

I'm probably the cheapest motherfucker you will ever meet. Except when it comes to gadgets. Though I'm young and lack disposable income, I've found ways to get my hands on most of the cool new stuff that comes out, though I usually wait for 2nd Gen to update. My first computer had 1.3Gigs of hard drive space, my first internet access was AOL 3.0. I got broadband pretty early in the. I've been using rss feeds for google reader and TV through utorrent for pretty much as long as they have been available. I got a facebook pretty much as soon as I got a university email address (it was a big rite of passage back then in my circles.) I had a projection hdtv, which I've junked for two big plasmas. Got the PS3 when the slimmer version came out. Smartphone about a month ago.

For me the bigger issue now is consolidating. Through various internet services and various gadgets, my biggest problem is too many damn things and not enough time for them all. The biggest one is that I hav a 30 gig Zen for music, but I have way more than 30 gigs of music at this point. My smartphone can hold 8 gigs but it still means everything is scattered as all hell. I'm waiting for microsd cards that can hold a solid 60 gigs or more. I'd love to consolidate all that stuff and devices into one nice device. iGoogle does a decent job of gathering my emails, reader, etc. into one place but I still have to visit 4-5 websites to take care of all my internet business.

 

I got my first smartphone on Sunday.

 

I follow Scotchcrotch's thinking 100%: there are always issues with first-gen stuff and it's usually priced too high for a 24-year-old with no disposable income like me, so I am absolutely not an early adopter. I will wait as long as it takes for anything to come down in price, and have as few glitches/issues with it as possible. I'm extremely tech-savvy and am constantly updating myself on what's new, what's coming out, and what may be coming out in the near future, so I can always make the best decision based on the information I have available to me.

I don't own an iPod because I have no need for one. I'm activating a Blackberry today, only because it was given to me after I lost my last regular cell phone, and because I don't have to add a data plan. If I had the money, I'd probably be like my friend's dad that buys everything he can find in the first week after being released. iPad, 3D-TV (he replaced all the tv's in his house), PS3, every iPod. It's actually incredible how much money he must spend on buying things, and then immediately upgrading to the next version that comes out. I wouldn't be surprised if he got a fucking pilot's license and bought this: http://www.terrafugia.com.

For now, though, I'll just keep myself informed, and will buy stuff when I can.

 

I don't have a smart phone, my TV is not a flat screen, and I got a twitter about a month ago, but I don't ever write anything and use it mostly to follow Jason Mraz, who only posts new tweets every couple of months.

Also, except for an AOL account I had as a kid, I didn't have an email until I went to college and even then it was the email the school gave me.

 

Like Scotcrotch and Macgruber, I don't buy 1st gen anything. Like they both have said, 1st gen. costs a shit load of money and you get an inferior product. I usually wait until 2nd or 3rd gen. if it's something that I have to have, which is rarely the case. I'm not much of a tech guy and as a result I do not own any game system, digital camera, or blu ray. I was pretty late to the ipod game and was given either the 3rd or 4th gen. for my birthday. I have never been an early adopter with anything in my life. As a kid I bought a used super nintendo around the time that the N64 and Playstation were being released. I do not plan on buying a 3D TV (they seem pointless to me) or an IPad. I do own a droid but only because of the 2 for 1 deal verizon had in which my brother was going to buy one anyway and gave me the 2nd one for free.

 

I'm not a cutting edge adopter, but I'm not far behind. I like to have cool stuff that my friends don't have, but I also like to make sure that I'm not wasting my money on something unproven yet. I would like a win7 tablet PC, and there are some out there, but so far none of them are really worth buying.

I just like to buy electronics/tech stuff. I'm actually getting the itch right now, and payday is tomorrow, but I have all the current game consoles, a badass desktop PC, a big TV, an LED monitor...I want a new toy but I can't think of anything to buy.

 

I'm a late adopter to everything tech. My cell phone still says "Cingular" on it.

 

I have a Blackberry, purchased in 2008. I only got it so I could access the internet and Facebook. I have no apps on it. Shit, I barely know how to use it except to surf the 'net and talk on the phone. It took me about fifteen minutes to figure out how to make Rodney Dangerfield's horn in Caddyshack my husband's ringtone when he calls.

I have an Ipod Shuffle. The thought of an Iphone, Ipad or Ipod Touch confuses the hell out of me. I got the Shuffle in 2007 and have no plans to upgrade.

We have a PS3 that I got my husband for Christmas. Know why he got one? The manipulative bastard bought me a $300 Le Crueset soup pot for Christmas and his voice trailed off when he mentioned how similarly priced a PS3 was. Fucker. Problem is, the cookware gets used more often than the damn PS3.

On the other hand, I did start masturbating at a really young age, so, I have that going for me, which is nice.

 

Focus

Cell phones with keyboards and shit. I've always owned a basic one, but I HATE talking on t =he phone more than anything and I still to this day can't comprehend how people can just stand there like a schizo in public and blah-blah-blah into some small electric device about graphic medical details, hideous sexual encounters or what happened on I Love Money last night. I have texted a total of (getting phone) SEVEN TIMES in three years. However, whenever I stop at a light I see someone keeping their phone below viewing level because they can't wait FIVE FUCKING MINUTES until they're not putting people's lives in danger anymore to type LOL at some stupid joke. I realize they're now part of society as a tool and I can fully accept that, but we were fine before without them so start acting like your life would be over if you had to actually be social to somebody in person for a change.

Alt-Focus

Cell phones. I had a Nokia in 1996, and I was truly, TRULY the very first person I knew to own one (a gift from my folks for college). It was the size of TV remote contol and SUCKED, probably triggering my hatred towards the things in the first place.