|
Are you a 'laggard'? Do you typically wait years before being forced to upgrade to the newest hardware, software, or heck, soda pop? Everett M. Rogers, a communications scholar and pioneer, developed the theory of 'innovation diffusion'. Simply put, it described how new innovations become assimilated by the general populace. His theory was that adoption of new innovations followed a bell curve where 2.5% of the population were so-called "Innovators", 13.5% were labeled as "early adopters", and categories were followed by the "early majority, the late majority, and the 'laggards'. Ever since Rogers advanced this theory in 1962, the high-tech industry has fastened onto the importance of early (and influential) adopters as being the key to successful market penetration of products.
But now, it would seem, the high-tech industry is going to need to give some serious thought to the 'laggards'. The retirement of Netscape, the use of dial-up Internet access, and Yahoo's web email service offer three examples. In February of this year, Netscape had a market share of only 0.14 per cent. Hardly worth mentioning until you realize that 0.14 percent of the Internet users means more than 1 million users! Even though AOL has made it clear that support for Netscape stopped on March 1, there is little incentive for existing Netscape users to migrate; apparently, most are already using older unsupported versions. (Source: nytimes.com) The same is true for AOL's dial-up service. Broadband is now available to most users anywhere in the country, and is offered at prices less than or equal to that of dial-up, but the laggards using dial-up still account for more than $5.2 billion of AOL's revenue last year. $5.2 billion! And then there's the Yahoo! email service. Although the company introduced its new system in 2006, there are still tens of millions of users of the old system, Yahoo Mail Classic. (Source: about.com) Laggards represent big problems for manufacturers. Just ask Coca Cola; they introduced 'New Coke' in the Spring of 1985. Tests demonstrated that it had a superior flavor to both the existing Coke and Pepsi. By that summer, Coca Cola rebranded the traditional flavor as 'Coca Cola Classic' because of 'laggard' demand. In 2007, Coca Cola killed New Coke and relabeled the classic version back to plain 'Coca Cola'. (Source: msn.com) Consumer history is filled with such examples and the laggards are now becoming a significant factor in high-technology. A few more examples include: Vista vs. XP, WordPerfect vs. Word, Corel Draw, and FoxPro to name a few. Seemingly irrational consumer behavior can reshape the best-laid plans of high-tech manufacturers. Even in private IT settings, laggards require respect. If the implementation of a new system does not provide the same 'comfort' of previous systems, there will be difficulties. If you are a laggard, keep in mind that while new technology may represent an unwelcome and uncomfortable change for you, sticking with the old technology may represent a bigger problem. In a world of viruses and other malware, using old technology may provide a convenient and unprotected portal for new threats.
-- Related newsletter articles:
2008/01/25 HBO Joins Video Download Race (service)
2008/01/08 Where do the Presidential Candidates Stand on Technology? (technology)
2008/02/11 Technologies That Level the Playing Field for Small Business (technology)
2007/12/02 Google Maps Link Up with Cell Phones (service)
2007/11/21 Congress Focuses on Broadband (service)
2007/12/20 Web Experts Warn of Internet 'Exaflood' (technology)
2007/12/14 Ask.com Offers Secret Searching (service)
2008/01/02 Analog Satellite Technology Goes the Way of the Dodo (service)
2008/03/13 Journalist Interviews Facebook Boss, Shrinks Own Friends List (service)
-- Recent articles (from all channels): 2008/05/09 Today in History: for Friday, May 09, 2008
2008/05/09 [ShellX 20080509]: 'Advanced Run', and 'Diver Windows Manager'
2008/05/09 Texas Refuses Facebook Friend Request
2008/05/09 Photo-Enforcement Technology Replaces Officers On Patrol
2008/05/09 Cuban Government Says 'Ok Computer'
2008/05/09 Excel Can E-Mail Your Weekly Reports For You!
2008/05/08 [ShellX 20080508]: 'Shell Enhancer', and 'Lansweeper'
2008/05/08 Xobni: MS Outlook Social Networking Technology for your Inbox
2008/05/08 Music Companies Jump on GTA IV Bandwagon
2008/05/08 Fascinating: Memristor to replace Binary
2008/05/08 Adobe Hopes To Make Flash Master Of The (Mobile) Universe
2008/05/08 Spiffy Envelopes and Labels in MS Word
2008/05/07 [ShellX 20080507]: 'Winbin2iso', and 'Loop Typer'
2008/05/07 Yahoo Adds Security Warnings To Search Results
2008/05/07 Apple to Lose Money on iTunes Movie Releases
2008/05/07 Amazon.com takes New York Tax to Court
2008/05/07 Need Glasses for the Slide Sorter View in MS PowerPoint?
2008/05/07 After Winning The DVD Format War, Blu-Ray Sales Tank
2008/05/06 [ShellX 20080506]: 'Visual Basic 6.0 Portable', and 'Double-...
2008/05/06 Yahoo Outsources to Jajah
2008/05/06 New HP Circuit Could Change Technology Forever
2008/05/06 Movie Downloads To Match DVD Release Dates
2008/05/06 Microsoft Ends Yahoo Bid
2008/05/05 [ShellX 20080505]: 'Ie7 Pro', and 'Desktop Ok'
2008/05/05 The WB Network Hops Online
2008/05/05 Microsoft Slashes Price of Xbox 360 Overseas
2008/05/05 Google CEO Wants YouTube to Take More of Your Money
2008/05/05 Finding Items in MS Outlook's Reading Pane
2008/05/02 [ShellX 20080502]: 'Software Virtualization Solution', and '...
2008/05/02 Rogers Brings iPhone to Canada
2008/05/02 New Google Tool Cuts Down Irrelevant Image Search Results
|
