Blog post #8 | The Diffusion Theory

The Diffusion Theory explores the rate and implications of a technology and how it becomes an integral part of society. The innovation I would like to focus on is the iPhone. Produced by Apple, it was the product of mobilizing the functions of a computer. I believe it was a brilliant innovation because it was able to do so much while being so mobile. If you wanted to call someone before having the iPhone, you needed a phone booth, pagers, Blackberry, or mail. If you wanted to play a game, you needed some kind of device with a computing system to run it. Wanted to listen to music? You need a SONY Walkman or some kind of device which could play audio off of an audio track. Did you need to find any kind of information? Get out your trusty Encyclopedia book and flip the pages continuously until you found the information you needed. 

The iPhone compacted all those needs into a small rectangle which could fit into your pocket. Just the idea of that is crazy and that was the reason early adopters were so eager to obtain the iPhone. The caveats to the iPhone were that the BlackBerry was still very popular at the time, so the iPhone had to overtake them. Plus, iPhone when it released still had functions it had yet to develop, so it would be a few years before it became the societal necessity it is now. Otherwise, the battery life was not amazing, the keyboard was inconvenient, and it was expensive. Those were the biggest reasons not to take the gamble and get the iPhone at the time, though those who saw the possibilities became early adopters who helped popularize and integrate the iPhone into the society we live in today.

With every new version of the iPhone, a critique would be fixed and a new, quality-of-life improvement would be made, which made early adopters happier and encouraged more people to cave and buy the iPhone. People who purchased had so many recreational and informational capabilities at their fingertips, and they would have made that purchase because it made life so much easier. Innovations are innovations because they make the quality of life better at a small price in terms of work. Sure, you might have to spend a few hundred bucks to get the iPhone, but that return in advanced capabilities was worth the cash. The positives outweighed the negatives, especially considering how quickly the iPhone developed in two decades. Plus, the cost-benefit is still pretty good, considering how Apple has generated an amazing level of brand loyalty, making it so a good chunk of their buyers buy the newest version of the iPhone immediately.