Are you an early adopter of technology?

[steve(thelil)]

I am an I amn't.

When it comes to technology that is a replacement for a technology I'm already very involved in, I've been slow.

I was late to CDs (because I was so involved emotionally with my vinyl collection). I was late to iPod because I was committed to my cd collection and therefore content with portable CD players.

On the other hand, I was fairly quick to adopt the Walkman, because it was the first time you could listen to good quality recordings on a very portable device. Although I wasn't a FIRST ADOPTER because I didn't get my first cassette Walkman until after I already had an FM Walkman, which came out later.

I was late to smartphones because I was into my iPod and anti-phone, so a flip phone seemed fine to me. I actually got my first iPhone - a 3GS - when my iPod broke and i needed to replace it.

I was fairly early on the Tablet, because I had heard that the iPad's GarageBand recording studio software would FINALLY make it easy to do multi-track home recording. It's still my main use for the iPad and it's been the technology that I've enjoyed and benefitted from most, I think.

I was early

[stonemonkts]

I usually wait until the technology is a few years from obsolescence to take the plunge, so no, I am definitely not an early adopter. I was buying 8 tracks in 1978, recording my own cassette tapes up until 2003 or so, and finally purchased a DVD player in 2007?

[sozamora]

I am not, but not for one reason. A lot of new technology. seems like hype until I've had a chance to actually use it and see its benefits. The other reason is I'm not is because I prefer to let other people pay money for the privilege of beta-testing. The third reason is because new stuff is usually way overpriced.

For those reason, I probably won't get a next gen consoles until at least next year. On other hand, I can't believe I once thought I needed to own shiny discs to listen to most music.

[Monte Smith]

Next gen consoles are never worth picking up for the first year, or so. The games are usually garbage, high prices, back orders, bugs, the list of reasons could go on and on.

I'm encouraged to hear that. I bought an Xbox 360 for the kids for Christmas...it will replace their current game console, a (perfectly good) twenty year old Super Nintendo. Haha. We went to a video game exhibit at the Smithsonian this spring and the kids were demoralized to see their home's cutting edge technology on display as America's Heritage.

[jwaggs]

Any video game players on here?

[BeBop]

I am an I amn't.

Wherever you stand on technology, you're right there on the cutting edge with vocabulary.

[BFrank]

Definitely not an early adopter for many of the same reasons that sozamora mentioned.

[moldyfigg]

I bought my first computer in 1981, my first Walkman about the same time, iPod when it first came out, cds in early 90s. I have had a smart phone for a couple of ears and have finally figured out how to answer it.

[Chazro]

I remember going to a Newmark & Lewis in 1985 searching for a new cassette recorder and walking out with a JVC CD player. This new techno seemed so fresh at the time. I later found out that the player, and the sound, were far from state of the art but it didn't matter, I dove in head 1st! While I'd always been a music-lover, that CD player began my love affair with audiophile equipment. It seemed logical (still does) that if you loved music, that you should want to hear it sounding its best. Other than that I'd have to admit to being a kind of wait-and-see kind of guy. For every success, LP, cassette & CD for instance, there'd be a few failures, like 8-track, DAT & Beta video. Today, most attempts to 'improve' CD's (DVD audio and even SACD) have totally failed to capture the publics interest. Currently I'm enjoying MP3 but am a complete Neanderthal when it comes to all the computer streaming tech.

[Coda]

I've always been an early adopter. I'm currently waiting for this to arrive, due in April:

http://www.amazon.com/oc/echo/ref_=ods_dp_ae

The internet-of-things is going to be huge, and Amazon will be one of the biggest players in this space. They are so far ahead of all cloud companies - like they're 5x the size of their next 5 competitors combined. You would be surprised at how much of your technology runs on their clouds. This Echo is going to be their bridge device into IOT. All my music is up in their cloud too. Echo will see into my collection. If I ask it to play a tune that has musicians X, Y, and Z in it...it will search my files and the web to locate matches. How cool is that?

[moldyfigg]

I hope my new Google glasses have that included.

[Ron Thorne]

Coda, Echo seems like a really cool tool, but based upon what I've seen, certainly wouldn't want to do any serious music listening with this device. If you can listen via Bluetooth headphones, that's another matter, however. Other applications are almost unlimited. I think their price point of $199.00 for non-Prime members is too high.

I'm a big fan of Amazon.

[jwaggs]

Anybody here into trans cranial direction current stimulation? Or is that considered too old school for early adapters?

[bluenoter]

Anybody here into trans cranial direction current stimulation? Or is that considered too old school for early adapters?

When I was born, I had already evolved beyond transcranial direct current stimulation. No stinkin' electrodes for me---in fact, no "devices" for me. Instead, I use a form of stimulation that I call "perceiving the world."