The evolution of the computer has gone from something that was only accessible for those who knew advanced math's and technology to something that today's infants can use. When you look at computers through the lens of the Diffusion of Innovation theory you get an interesting perspective on this unique piece of technology. For the majority of technology the diffusion theory describes how quick something is to catch on and become mainstream. This is mainly due to how useful something is to everyday people but with computers it was more about how accessible it is to not only use but obtain. From the time of the first computer invention to a few decades ago computers would fill up entire rooms and were only able to be used by those who were smart enough to use them but as time went on and the technology progressed so did the ease of access. So there is a direct correlation of the popularity of the computers not with how useful it was but how many people had the knowledge to access it. Over time the barrier to entry continued to drop lower and lower. First it was only used by the technologically elite, then it became used by the technologically savvy, usually young people with an interest in technology, then it became mainstream enough that even those who had no knowledge about technology or no desire to care about it were able to use it with great success. Now computers are everywhere, every office, home and public area has one. Even things that we don't consider to be computers in today's age are still computers. Phones, tablets and even cars all use the same technology that computers use to fulfill their tasks and there are billions of us using these technologies every day. This makes for a pretty interesting perspective not just on computers but on the diffusion of innovation theory as a whole
No comments:
Post a Comment