Diffusion of Innovations - Cell Phones

 


       The Diffusions of Innovation is a theory created to explain how, why, and at the rate that new technologies were introduced to society. For this blog post, the technological innovation I am going to focus on is the cell phone. According to communicationtheory.org, diffusion can be defined as "the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system” (Development Communication, 2014). The result is that this new technological theory will be adopted into our social system. This theory works by its "adopters" into five separate categories. The five categories include pioneers, early adopters, early majority, late adopters, and laggards. Through these five categories, Rodgers Diffusion of Innovation can be implemented. 

    The cellular phone has dominated the technology industry for more than thirty years. As of today, there is not a single other technology that has had more of an impact on society than the cell phone has. Over the past two decades, the cell phone industry has undergone an explosive diffusion making it the most prominent economic market as of June 2016. During the years 2011 and 2012, the number of mobile devices reaching about 1.7 billion. As cited in a journal article by Nuno Bento, "In 2012 there were over 400 million shipments per quarter, almost as much as the number of devices sold seven years before,” (Bento, 2016). 

    According to Bento, mobile phones first penetrated the market in Scandinavia during the late 1970s. According to Pew Research, 97% of Americans now own a cell phone of some kind. That number is up almost 85% from the number it was in 2011. People may be asking, what is it that has made them so popular? The answer is, mobile phone companies have made it so that we as a society can no longer live without our cell phones. Can you imagine what our lives would be like during quarantine last year if we did not have our phones? I can’t. Cellphones have been so ingrained in our lives that I cannot even unlock or turn on my car without my car detecting my iPhone. Auto manufacturers like Tesla have figured out a way to make it so that even our cars won’t work properly without our phones. 
    Finally, cell phones have created a world of convenience. Without them, I don’t even know what I would do. 

    

References: 

Bento, N. (2016). Calling for change? Innovation, diffusion, and the energy impacts of global mobile telephony. Energy Research & Social Science, 21, 84-100. doi:10.1016/j.erss.2016.06.016

In Development Communication, T. (2014, July 10). Diffusion of innovation theory. Retrieved April 27, 2021, from https://www.communicationtheory.org/diffusion-of-innovation-theory/

https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/

Cell phone history: From the first phone to today's smartphone wonders


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