The Rise of The iPod Touch
The Rise of The iPod Touch
A Look At iPod Touches Through The Lense Of Diffusion Theory
What Is Diffusion Theory?
Diffusion of innovations is a theory popularized by Everett Rogers, a communications professor, in order to explain how, why, and at what rate new technology is spread. According to Rodgers, there are five main elements that influence the spread of ideas; innovation, adopters, communication channels, time, and social system. Adopters can be further put into the categories of innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards.
What Was The iPod Touch?
The iPod touch was introduced in 2007 and the last generation was released on May 28, 2019. I can remember when I got my first iPod Touch like it was yesterday. My parents got me one for Christmas and they tried to have me open the iPod and then the case and some add ons but they got the presents mixed up and I ended up opening the case first and somewhat ruined the surprise. I remember me and my friends were so excited to have them because now we could message each other, facetime, and play games together. My mom ended up getting one later on as an anniversary present from my dad and I remember how that was really popular at the time. I felt like everyone around me had an iPod because it was something new and it was really cool how it was touch screen.
Through The Lens of Diffusion...
INNOVATION: The iPod Touch was one of the products that had the new touchscreens which were very popular at the time.
ADOPTERS: The general public. This was a product for everyone.
COMMUNICATION CHANNELS: iPods were heavily adapted through TV ads and everyone was talking about them so there was also word-of-mouth communication helping boost the project.
TIME: The timing of the iPod Touch was perfect. Touchscreen was becoming a big thing but nothing was really available for the younger generation. iPods came out and parents were buying them like crazy for their kids.
SOCIAL SYSTEM: When iPods came out we were in a very heavy monkey see monkey-do society. I think that mass media was starting to introduce the idea of trends to the public and iPods just took advantage of the opportunity.
What I Think...
Learning about the lenses of diffusion was really interesting because I didn't realize how much I have fallen into this as a consumer. I think that using this theory is really good for businesses but I feel like as a consumer I don't like the idea of broadcasting new technologies when not all of them have positive impacts on society. I feel as though you can't run a cost-benefit analysis on technology until after the damage has been done.
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