Rogers Diffusion of Innovations and the

 

Diffusion of Innovations and Smart Watches

(Source: Coolblue.nl)

Rogers Diffusion of Innovations looks at how different things become popular, by who, and how they become less popular over time. There are 5 different groups of people to consider when discussing this and they include the pioneers, early adopters, early majority, late adopters, and laggards. Each of these groups of people play a key role in the diffusion of innovations. The exploratory stage is the early stage where the pioneers take charge, and at the other end you have the laggards who have no real desire and they are in the moderation stage. Below is the diagram of what this looks like and it shows the different stages as well as the popularity of that innovation.

Let's take a look at  smart watches and view it through the lense of the Diffusion Theory to better understand how they gained their popularity. I had one of the first smart watches myself when Apple came out with the "Series 1 Apple Watch" This was the next greatest piece of technology and allowed for you to have your phone with you on your wrist. I think this is something that caught on by many because it was convenient and we all love convenience these days. It allowed for you to not even need to take out your phone and still do most of the same functions. This is one piece of technology that I know a lot of people became early adopters to and all wanted to have that futuristic technology on their wrist. Those that were early adopters had a smartphone and wanted to make it smarter by having that same functionality but on their wrist. Those who were late adopters to owning a smartwatch were probably the ones who didn't see a purpose because for a while I know you still needed to have your phone with you in order to send messages and have that same functionality. 

My mother was one who did not see a purpose at first because it was something else she had to charge and keep track of. These late adopters had to wait to see a strong purpose and I think now a lot of them are using smartwatches for the functionality of them. For those who have not adopted this technology at all they are either one of two people, those who like old-school and like to wear a regular watch, or those who do not have a smartphone so they have no need for a smartwatch. 

(Source: Techradar.com)

Walking around campus today you will see almost every student, faculty member, and staff member with some form of smartwatch on their wrist varying from a Fitbit to an Apple Watch. The functionality of such a technology has only gotten greater and allowed for us to track everything right there on our wrist. When you workout you can track heart rate, count steps, and do workouts all from your wrist. Because we have all become so relied on our technology I do not think that a downside is that it is another piece of technology. As the world changes we all must adapt and smartwatches while they can be a distraction, help prevent health issues you may not notice, and notify you of important things if your phone is not handy. They are a piece of technology that has essentially become as popular and mainstream as the smartphone itself and are only getting smarter and more responsive. The positives overall outweigh the negatives because nowadays they are helping people know if they are having a stroke or are even sick with COVID. As the price of these watches goes up, so do the benefits and I think there will be a point in the future where everyone has a smartwatch just like they have a smartphone. 

Sources

https://www.techradar.com/news/best-android-smartwatch

https://www.coolblue.nl/en/advice/how-does-smartwatch-work.html