Early adoption is the term used for folks who love to get their hands on new tech the moment it becomes available. And really, who doesn’t love having the coolest new gadget? Owning the shiniest and flashiest devices as they hit the market comes with a certain prestige; a certain level of, look what I have. There’s something else it comes with though, something a lot of consumers don’t think about: PROBLEMS.
Being an early adopter of new technology is fun, as you get to be the first to use whatever new-fangled gadget hit the streets. But it is not for the faint of heart, or for those who don’t like figuring things out without help. I’m speaking to the folks out there that just “want things to work.” The inherent issue with brand new technology is that the masses of consumers haven’t had time to properly break it and gripe about their experience using it.
Breaking and griping is vital to product development, and no amount of in-house research can imitate real world consumer usage to determine what is wrong with a product and how it could be better. This is why programmers, as a general practice, shouldn’t review their own code; they know where all the faults are and thus know what “buttons” not to push.
Let’s take the recent Samsung Fold fiasco as an example. With all of the money that Samsung spent in developing, testing, and producing what was slated to be the first “consumer” folding touch screen phone, they still fell short of making a product that could withstand the general public. The phone had some pronounced quality control issues, which were worsened by solutions that rendered the product less user-friendly. As a technophile, I treat electronics much differently than the average consumer, as I’m guessing many of the engineers of the Fold do as well. The general public doesn’t possess that acumen, and product launches crash and burn due to the failure on both sides to realize this.
To be an early adopter, you agree to an unspoken disclaimer. It’s an unspoken disclaimer that looks something like this:
“This is a brand spanking new application or ‘thing,’ so you can expect an issue at some point while using it. Probably sooner rather than later. If you don’t have patience to be a guinea pig, get the previous generation or wait until we work out the bugs in this one.”
While manufacturers and developers rely on consumer feedback to improve their products, there IS a certain baseline level of reliability that must be met. Product manufacturers have a failure rate that is inherent with ALL products, but simply because a product is new, doesn’t mean failure should be expected. I expect glitches, not catastrophe.
So with that in mind, go forth and purchase brand new shiny things. That’s the only way they get better, and the only way we continue to get cool gadgets. In that same light, realize that no product is perfect and that going where no person has gone before means you’re the first to reach the bumps in the road.