No matter how technologically advanced we thought the 90s were (eye roll), as an elementary student in rural Kansas I had very little understanding of the boom that was to come in the technology industry over the next few decades.  I do remember being excited to learn that we no longer had to deal with the cord on our home phone, and the possibilities that checking the fridge or watching TV while talking on the phone would bring to me as an 8 year old, but none of that prepared me for the introduction of a phone that…..wait for it…..you could take anywhere!

Of course by the age of 10 I had seen a cell phone, on TV, in a movie, the fancy dude in town, or even at the local radio shack, but I could not even understand how it would work where I lived.  Middle of nowhere didn’t seem like the kind of place for magic wireless phones!  But nonetheless, the idea had been introduced to me in many forms.  That knowledge brought discussion.  Friends would talk about them, some pretend to have them, we would even discuss what it would take to get one.  There seemed to be a need for this advancement in technology, I mean CB radios are cool, but you couldn’t put it in your pocket or call China.  Looking back there was no clear conscience idea of the adoption process of this new thing in society, but almost all people were on their way to full on acceptance.

Those that opposed the change process had their reasons; brain cancer, price, practicality, and of course hold outs of an era slipping away.  I remember my dad, who was nowhere near the front of the line on a cell phone himself, having to buy one for my grandfather in case of emergencies.   I’m not entirely sure he ever even turned it on to be honest.  The idea of unreachable was tough to let go of, because let’s face it, as I get older and more connected, the more I totally get it.  What will power it takes to disconnect for a few hours now, and the slippery slope of a shoddy rural connection that got us to this point.

I would say that the diffusion of the cell phone took hold almost everywhere.  Not immediately per say, there were hold outs and other factors that had to catch up to the new innovation, but the actual practicality and techno OOO’s and AAA’s took hold over the majority.  I myself for sure have reached the confirmation stage of the adoption process of the cell phone as a day to day device.

I think my story of cell phone adoption relates to some of todays IoT devices that are popping up everywhere.  There’s a smart this, and a wearable that almost everywhere you look, and they just keep coming, and updating.  For a specific example, the robot vacuum.  Do I have one? Yes.  Do I use it? Yes.  Do I see its necessity? Eh, not so much.  I see these things as a convenience, and a luxury, not really something that is changing the world.  Are these the devices that 10 year old kids look at now and see status and sci-fi?  I hope not.  But maybe that is the way my grandfather felt all those years ago.  Maybe I have just lost that child like wonder that it seems to take to really get something off the ground.  I would say the only reason I even own one is to critique it.  And to keep from becoming a complete laggard.