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To Adopt or Not Adopt?

It’s coming out next week, next month!  Are you going to get it?  What is it?  It’s anything.  Whenever a new technology comes out, a business or individual needs to decide if it’s worth trying out.  Here are some pros and cons for those on the fence.

Pros

  1. Some companies offer early adopter incentives such as an introductory price.
  2. Your company can get into the position of being an expert in said technology.  If you get your hands on it first, customers and friends will come to you for advice about it.
  3. Priority recognition.  This usually goes for adopting new websites.  Early adopters get the first pick of user or profile names.  It’s nice to be business A rather than business A1236.

Cons

  1. Devoting resources to research can take a big chunk out of your budget.  Since there are no reviews to go on, you’ll have to find someone who knows something about the context of the technology.  It’s nice if you have a reliable IT consultant on hand, but if you don’t that can get expensive.
  2. New products can be riddled with flaws.  Do you remember when the iPhone 4 came out?  It dropped calls when you squeezed it too hard.  Maybe the company that makes the problem fixes it for free, or maybe they file for bankruptcy.
  3. Something better could come along on the heels of whatever you just adopted.  The great often stand on the shoulders of the unknown.  A company could create technology only to have another company make a better version a month later.  Does anyone remember who made the Orion, the first laptop?  I certainly don’t.

Is it better to adopt a new technology or wait and see?  You decide.