Typically, early adopters are customers who, in addition to using the vendor's product or technology, also provide considerable and candid feedback to help the vendor refine its future product releases, as well as the associated means of distribution, service, and support.[according to whom?] Early adoption could also be referred to as a form of testing in the early stages of a project.
The relationship is synergistic. The customer receives early (and sometimes unique, or at least uniquely early) access to an advantageous new product or technology. In return, the customer may also serve as a kind of guinea pig.[citation needed]
In exchange for being an early adopter, and thus being exposed to the problems, risks, and annoyances common to early-stage product testing and deployment, the "lighthouse customer" is sometimes given especially attentive vendor assistance and support, even to the point of having personnel at the customer's work site to assist with implementation. The customer is sometimes given preferential pricing, terms, and conditions, although new technology is often very expensive, so the early adopter still often pays quite a lot.[citation needed]
The vendor, on the other hand, benefits from receiving early revenues, and also from a lighthouse customer's endorsement and assistance in further developing the product and its go-to-market mechanisms. Acquiring lighthouse customers is a common step in new product development and implementation. The real-world focus that this type of relationship can bring to a vendor can be extremely valuable.[citation needed]
Early adoption does come with pitfalls: early versions of products may be buggy and/or prone to malfunction. Furthermore, more efficient, and sometimes less expensive, versions of the product usually appear a few months after the initial release (Apple iPhone).[2][3] The trend of new technology costing more at release is often referred to as the "early adopter tax".[4]
See also
Look up early adopter in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
early, adopter, early, adopter, lighthouse, customer, early, customer, given, company, product, technology, term, originates, from, everett, rogers, diffusion, innovations, 1962, history, edittypically, early, adopters, customers, addition, using, vendor, prod. An early adopter or lighthouse customer is an early customer of a given company product or technology The term originates from Everett M Rogers Diffusion of Innovations 1962 1 History EditTypically early adopters are customers who in addition to using the vendor s product or technology also provide considerable and candid feedback to help the vendor refine its future product releases as well as the associated means of distribution service and support according to whom Early adoption could also be referred to as a form of testing in the early stages of a project Early adopters as shown in the Rogers bell curve The relationship is synergistic The customer receives early and sometimes unique or at least uniquely early access to an advantageous new product or technology In return the customer may also serve as a kind of guinea pig citation needed In exchange for being an early adopter and thus being exposed to the problems risks and annoyances common to early stage product testing and deployment the lighthouse customer is sometimes given especially attentive vendor assistance and support even to the point of having personnel at the customer s work site to assist with implementation The customer is sometimes given preferential pricing terms and conditions although new technology is often very expensive so the early adopter still often pays quite a lot citation needed The vendor on the other hand benefits from receiving early revenues and also from a lighthouse customer s endorsement and assistance in further developing the product and its go to market mechanisms Acquiring lighthouse customers is a common step in new product development and implementation The real world focus that this type of relationship can bring to a vendor can be extremely valuable citation needed Early adoption does come with pitfalls early versions of products may be buggy and or prone to malfunction Furthermore more efficient and sometimes less expensive versions of the product usually appear a few months after the initial release Apple iPhone 2 3 The trend of new technology costing more at release is often referred to as the early adopter tax 4 See also Edit Look up early adopter in Wiktionary the free dictionary Alpha consumer Beta test Coolhunting Crossing the Chasm Diffusion business Diffusion of innovations Dominance economics Eating your own dog food Eric von Hippel Experimental techniques Focus group Hipsters Innovation Lead user Learning by doing economics Marketing Observational techniques Participatory design Product lifecycle management Qualitative marketing research Quantitative marketing research Technology adoption lifecycle Toolkits for user innovation User innovation Empathic design Whole ProductReferences Edit Rogers Everett M 1962 Diffusion of Innovations Free Press of Glencoe Macmillan Company Top 5ive Gadgets You Shouldn t Buy AOL Money amp Finance page saved by the Internet Archive April 12 2008 Making sense of the million dollar iPhone lawsuit C Net October 3 2007 page saved by the Internet Archive on October 26 2012 The Early Adopter s Gamble CBS News Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Early adopter amp oldid 1124107537, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
