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The Technology Hype Cycle
jira writes "What does it take for a new gadget to be succesfull on the market? Which technologies will become part of everyday life in the future? BBC investigates the Techology Hype Cycle."
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Sometimes we call the grad students (and some undergrads) who hang around WAY too long the "furniture" because they last so long and they're such an integral part of everything. Could be like that.
...or not
...no two people are not on fire.
But what if you aren't Apple?
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
Porn
/.ers got broadband or upgraded their modems in order to meet more women named .jpeg or her lovely sisters .mpeg? As far as that goes it's an often overlooked fact that porno movies go back to the beginning of film. The "hype circle" is just another way of saying "lookit that, no nipple pixels!" :-)
No, seriously, new technology is frequently propelled forward by its capacity for smut. Show of hands: How many
(And yes I realized how it's ironic to ask for a show of hands WRT porn. At least I didn't ask you to show both hands.)
Erotic is when you use a feather. Exotic is when you use the whole chicken.
-5 months: You "discover" a technology at a conference that no one seems to have picked up on.
-2 months: You read about it in the newspaper 3 months later. The article is done by a guy whose speciality is discussing nothing but gadgets.
0 months: The technology appears in stores in limited quantities, geeks foam at the mouth trying to acquire it. The girlfriends of geeks shake their head wondering why they would need it.
2 weeks: The geeks who can't find it in stores buy it on ebay for 3x the store cost. No girlfriends to shake their head at these guys.
1 year: Regular people begin buying the product.
1.5 years: Mainstream newspapers report on the popularity of the product.
2 years: Your girlfriend buys the product.
2.5 years: Your mother finally hears about the product.
3 years: Families begin buying the product. The product is finally mainstream.
5 years: The product begins appearing between the shaving razors and chocolate bars at the check-out counter.
7 years: The product/technology finally peters out and your grandmother goes around telling people that she knew it was a fad from the start (1 year ago, from her perspective).
8 years: Slashdot reports on the product.
1991: "Don't call, send me an email."
1992: "$10 for a CD? What a deal!"
1993: "$3,000 for a 486? What a deal!"
1994: "Check out this webpage."
1995: "I'll be out, call my cell."
1996: "I bought it all online."
1997: "The number's in my PalmPilot. What? No, it's better than the Newton."
1998: "MP3s on napster.com? No problem, I've got a cablemodem now."
1999: "Y2K? Yeah, I've got my bunker stocked."
2000: "Yeah, I finally got a DVD player."
2001: "Check out my wireless network. Yeah, all the way to the patio."
2002: "It costs more but this LCD monitor is the shiznite!"
2003: (unemployed)
2004: "Would you like fries with that?"
Speak truth to power.