[sorry, I'm still working on finishing this text]
http://www.25hoursaday.com/weblog/2008/05/21/NoteToWeb20CompaniesEarlyAdoptersAreNotTheMassMarket.aspx
This is a very interesting article. It talks about there being a clear separation between the needs and requirements of early adopters and the rest of potential users of technology. Particularly, it focuses on web 2.0 tools.
I don't agree with some arguments in it. First of all, there is an entire category of people missing from the group chart. I don't know what they should be called... but they are the people who would be sandwiched between the pragmatists and the conservatives. They are those people who don't have a "need" to be solved by technology, but they will adopt it anyway if they can be lead to trying it out. Usually, this happens when a critical mass of friends are using or talking about something that seems interesting. Ultimately, they will find discover that they have a "need" for it after all, and become to think how they ever lived without it and how no one else should remain in the misery of not ripping the benefits of said tool. Purely on guts feeling, I would say this group of people makes up 2/3 of the pragmatists slice shown in the pie that is displayed in the article. Argue this number as you may, but I'm positive that there are not that many pragmatists (as per the definition) out there relative to the total number of potential users.
This group of people could be as enthusiastic and log some serious assiduous usage as early adopters could when first trying out a new technology. So I want to call them Accidental Adopters.
Now that I have completed the definitions to my satisfactions, I want to go back to the arguments.
the next generation of successful tools will be ones that will guide people
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