In the previous post, I shared five reasons (there are actually a few more not shared) for why I always try to delay a technology purchase whenever possible. While I used to be a much earlier adopter of new technology (heck, I had a Fujitsu tablet computer in the early 2000's) and have purposely slowed my acquisition of the latest and greatest gadgets, it doesn’t mean I’m immune to the pulls of cool new technology. Now, I simply try to stay away from technology departments, stores, and websites that pose too much in the way of technology-based temptation.
5 Regrets when I Delay a Technology Purchase Too Long
All that means that despite my five very sound reasons for delaying a technology purchase, today, in an amazing coincidence, there are also five reasons why I ALWAYS to seem to wish I had NOT elected to delay a technology purchase:
- When I finally get up and running with new technology, there are ALWAYS unexpected efficiency and effectiveness gains - For instance, finally investing in a sales / business development system for The Brainzooming Group has definitely kept our business development efforts more organized and on-track. We should have made the move in this direction much earlier.
- It’s not hard to look like a dinosaur at conferences and events when you’re using old technology – When you go to a social media event, it’s no surprise the attendees WAY over index on early adoption of new technology. What can I say? I do my own thing. Despite that, there’s a reason dinosaurs do not still walk the earth. Similarly, there are reasons you don’t want old technology to suggest you’re nothing but a dinosaur when it comes to new technology.
- You miss new applications that are not backward compatible - I have been off Foursquare for some time because the app would not work on my Blackberry anymore unless I downloaded Foursquare each time I checked in. How disconcerting my absence from Fourquare was did not become obvious until I checked into our Church last Sunday on the new Droid phone, and Foursquare told me it thought I hadn’t been to Church for two years!
- You don’t realize the inefficiencies and ineffectiveness you compensate for with workarounds and frustration - My 4-year old HP laptop was complete junk when its display stopped working in January. Before it stopped working, however, I had endured multiple heart-in-mouth moments when the computer failed to perform as expected. My new Asus laptop, however, is lighter, works better, and has saved me so much frustration this year!
- The learning curve is never as bad as expected - For as much as I angst over the learning curve with new technology, I’m always all over what the new hardware or software offers. Sure the new Motorola phone is different than the Blackberry. I’m up and running with it, however, and it’s probably a good thing its size and user interface aren’t nearly as conducive to one-handed, in the car operation as the Blackberry! As for the iPad, I haven’t had time to spend much time with it yet. It was more of a strategic impulse buy, and I’m still figuring out where it fits into my professional lifestyle.
At least I’m big enough to admit my regrets!
What about you early adopters? What else am I missing by being slow to make new technology purchases? Have you met people waiting in line outside Apple stores that have changed your life? Let me know! - Mike Brown
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