I sit between the late majority and the laggard. Maybe even later-late majority and laggard.

What am I referring to? “The technology adoption lifecycle that describes customer behaviour related to the acceptance of a new product or feature. And, it is divided into five stages or categories – innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards[1].

This technology adoption lifecycle is based on a model first introduced in 1962 by researcher Everett Rogers as part of his study on market behaviour. I was not aware of such a lifecycle and/or the five stages/categories. Based on each definition, I think I might be one of those people who adopts technology, belatedly and when unavoidable.

I found the following interesting. The five stages/categories and their percentage distribution[2]:

1. Innovators (2.5%)

Traits of innovators include enthusiasm about new technology, willingness to take risks and not being concerned about failure. Innovators are often the initiators of change. They are the first to upgrade their phones or experiment with a tool during beta or end-user testing.

2. Early Adopters (13.5%)

Traits of early adopters include persuasiveness, willingness to work through early bugs and setbacks and concerns about their reputation. Apparently, while innovators are comfortable about failing publicly, early adopters like to collate information and acquire first-hand experience with technology before making recommendation to others.

3. Early Majority (34%)

Traits of the early majority include being logical, practical, and data-driven. They are interested in technology but want proof of its effectiveness. They search for product reviews before making a purchase, and test tools before committing.

4. Late Majority (34%)

Traits of the late majority include being cautious, logical and risk averse. This lot tends to question the need for changes. Are not easily persuaded by trends. They are also the people who hit snooze on software updates for as long as they can hold out – sounds familiar.

5. Laggards (16%)

Traits of laggards include being sceptical, resistant to change and wary of new technology. They prefer the status quo because they know what to expect. They are easily frustrated by new technology, and give up easily on tools that do not instantly make life easier.

Back to me. I am not at all averse to technology. In fact, I appreciate the convenience that technology offers. It is omnipresent in almost all aspects of my life. The electric stick blender that I use to macerate my mum’s fruits and large pieces of food. The headphones that enable me to listen to BFM’s morning run on my mobile phone. The non-electric car that transports me from A to B, when its less convenient to jump on a bus or a train. Netflix that allows me to stream movies to watch when I want. Yes thankful, I am.

It is also technology that has enabled me to produce this blog. I like that I can do a weekly post on just about anything that catches my interest or ignites my indignation. Thanks to my host, server, software, apps, and the Internet. The thing is I do not know how I got my blog up and running. I have forgotten the processes, and codes I copied and pasted to set it up. Therein lies my problem. I had trouble grasping the language of ‘the’ technology and ‘the’ instructions. It was like trying to make sense of a bunch of words that I half recognised but could not make sense of in my head. I feared a wrong key might change a page layout or worse disappear a page. Although the undo key is there, just for that. To put right a mistake or at least help re-leave well enough alone. 

For me, the language of technology, especially digital technology, is akin to a foreign language. I still do not fully understand the meanings of CSS, Cashing, CDN, CSS, DNS, FTP, Plugin and URL.

For instance, “Caching is your browsers way of storing data locally when you visit a website. This increases load speeds and decreases pressure on servers. Your browser is essentially taking a snapshot of the CSS rendered when you first visited a website, omitting the need to ask the server again for the style sheet[3].” Hmm.

It also does not help that I do not address technology issues regularly or consistently. I start, stop, dither, and conveniently forget to solve them. I avoid the unfamiliar, and consequently do not learn new terms or adopt the latest apps. I need full concentration and lots of time when I am doing anything technology related, which is true. But in short supply now.

I know my unclear comprehension continues to influence my relationship with technology. The plan or hope is to migrate to at least the early majority stage by learning the language, exercising a little less restraint, and being a little more adventurous with new technology.