People aren’t very good at recognizing when they’re going to adapt technology. We make snap judgements whenever something new is introduced and assume that we’ll continue on with our usual ways.
All things I remember people saying:
“Why would I want a cell phone? I don’t need anyone to contact me all the time.”
“Why would I buy clothes and shoes online? It would be such a hassle to get the right size.”
“Twitter is stupid. I don’t care what you had for lunch.”
“Why would I email someone when I can just call them?”
“No one would ever want to read a book on a screen.”
“Why do I need to join Facebook? I can just call people.”
“Why do I need to send a text message when I have someones phone number?
“Why do you care about checking in on Foursquare? I don’t want everyone to know where I am. It’s creepy”
We really are bad predictors of what technology we’ll eventually use. The first car was even referred to as a horseless buggy. I’ve heard each of these denouncements only to see the new technology eventually adopted by the person that cursed it.
When the bet comes down to current behavior vs. technology – technology almost always wins, whether you agree with it or not.