Diffusion of Innovations Theory

I think one of the most major innovations that was heavily subject to the Diffusion of Innovations Theory was the mobile phone. Initially, "mobile" phones were connected to cars and costed a lot of money. However, in 1973, Motorola released the first truly mobile phone prototype. The prototype, and the consumer models based on it, that came out a whole 10 years later, in 1983, had 30-minute call time but a 10 hour charge time. Even with these specifications, there were many early adopters, with people on wait-lists for the “mobile” phones.

Cell phones took several years to become common, even though there were many early adopters, as the barrier to entry was very high due to cost and limited locations. Eventually, as with virtually all technologies, cell phones became smaller, more affordable, and overall better. I would say that the early majority and late adopters for cell phones are kind of blurred together. It's quite obvious why cell phones caught on, the ability to talk to someone wherever you are (as long as you have cell service) is a great thing. Additionally, the ability to contact emergency services when you don't have access to a landline is also a good reason to have a cell phone. Also, when cell phones got the ability to “text,” it made communicating even faster and easier.

 While cell phones, as previously mentioned, had a very positive effect, making communicating with friends, family, and emergency services much easier, it is not without it's downsides. Texting while driving incidents have increased since the cell phones became commonplace. Also, it seems that people are "glued" to their phones.

Overall, I think that cell phones have done much more good than bad, with the many generations of technology making the Diffusion of Innovations Theory a bit blurred.