Avoiding the Early Adopter Pitfalls!

After my last Blog entry, Brian P. labeled me as an “Early Adopter.” I see myself as more of a “Futurist.”

Early Adopter, Futurist. Tomato, tomahto. Let’s call the whole blog off!

What’s the difference, and why should you care?  The key difference is that I don’t care about the technology; I care about the Big Picture.

Let’s look at the multi-touch Smartphone.  Specifically, let’s talk about Apple. Apple didn’t invent the Smartphone, or the multi-touch, or even the Smartphone application.  What Apple did is execute on the Vision.  Apple saw not what the device was, but what it would be.  The Smartphone is your connection to the rest of the world.  The question is not what can it do, the real question is what can’t you do?

So you’ve seen the value, but now comes the hard part – Blackberry vs. Android vs. iPhone vs. Windows vs. Palm.  I don’t know.  You don’t want to be burned again; like that time you bought a Betamax, HD DVD, Mini-Disk, or 8-Track for your Edsel.  How do you make the right choice?

I like to use the acronym W.A.S.T.E.

• Wait – Did I Wait long enough?
• Adoption - Is it being Adopted?
• Stable - Is it Stable?
• Trend - Is this a Trend?
• Efficient - Will it make me more Efficient?

If I answer “NO” to any of these questions, I cross the product off the list.  I can always revisit at a later date.  Try the W.A.S.T.E. system the next time you go window shopping for gadgets.

As Business Professionals, we need to quickly sort trends from fads.  Multi-touch Smartphones, Cloud Computing, and Tablets are Trends.

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