Technology-oriented companies prize the early adopter. You know, the guy who must have all the latest gadgets the moment they're invented if not sooner. He bought his high-def television in 1972 and his CD player during the Truman administration.
We understand the impulse--the need for the shiny: It's the same thing that drives lemurs to snatch sunglasses. But early adopters accept a certain amount of risk. For every VHS, there's a Betamax; for every CD an 8-track.
We suppose it's this latter concern that drives us to be a late adopter. We like the shiny as much as the next ADHD-infected child of Generation X. But our incurable parsimony is at odds with our acquisitive impulse.
In other words, we're too cheap to buy things 'til the bugs get worked out and the prices drop--or until we feel we have no choice.
Such was the case with our decision to buy an iPod. We were obstinate. We liked CDs (talk about shiny!). We felt there was something fundamentally wrong--almost unsavory-about downloading music. Even though we would be more than happy to pay for the songs, the whole thing still smacked of piracy. But the other day, walking through our local big-box electronics emporium, we couldn't help but notice the ever-shrinking size of the CD section. The writing was on the wall: the future is all online. So, somewhat reluctantly, hesitantly (and frankly embarrasedly), we purchased our first iPod.
And you know what?
We freakin' love it!
The thing is, nobody cares! Nobody wants to hear from the late adopters. The rest of the world has been happily downloading for a decade. Best Buy has long ago given way to iTunes. Nobody is impressed by our chihuahua-like yipping about the fact that we can listen to a song on the radio, like it, and then immediately download it for a buck or so and have it forever--without having to go to a store and/or purchase a whole CD!
See? You're not impressed, either.
We L.A.'s don't really expect everyone to share our enthusiasm. All we ask is that you spare us a sympathetic nod and perhaps a gentle pat on the hand before you rush snickering out of our sight.
Now, if you'll excuse us, we have to run out. We hear them microwave ovens is fan-tastic!
Dear Professor Solipsist,
ReplyDeleteGo back and read your own column today. So much of the congratulatory and financial success in life is related to timing.
Yes, and what irks me is that I am SO cheap and cautious, that if I'd not waited until last year to buy MY first Ipod (by that time they were called, "Classic Edition IPOD" uh huh), I'd have gotten all of the songs that I pay i-Tunes a buck for now (which adds up VERY fast for this cheap person) for absolutely ZED, zero, zilch, nada! The only cost? Finding the place from which to download those almighty free songs! I used to watch my kids do that and shake my head. We think that so much is forever, and in this techno climate we're lucky if it lasts the 6 months that it takes me to FINALLY read about it in the Times..
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