Its long been my contention that the people who embrace technology also embrace the use of it. It has always been rather odd to me that the given wisdom of the internet states that:
“Users want to get in to a website, buy, and get out again as quickly as possible”
Cant be right, can it? If you get a new toy then I think you want to play, not just leave it in its box. So I guess I see these early adopters and early mass market as spending a lot of time online rather than just dipping in and out. They love technology, so they find ways to use it.
I would accept, however, that cost and speed has been a consideration within all of this. Dial up meant long waits and sometimes high costs to stay online all the time. You might be quite picky about how you use the internet however keen you were. Banking, certainly, researching, probably, groceries, possibly.
But dial up is plummeting, and broadband is everywhere cheap, and if I were an early adopter (which I am) then I’d get broadband (which I have) and I’d be on all day (well, a lot!). I get to play with my toys as much as I like for a set cost. Marvellous.
Hence The Always On Culture, emphasis, Culture and the Supermarket Sweep. Whereas in 2000 I want to get my groceries with the minimum of fuss, in 2005 I don’t care how long I say. I’ll browse forever if you can keep me there. I’m playing, I enjoy this, I want to stay. I think in 2000, the tick of the connection clock still nagged us, but in 2005 nothing can stop us but the limits of our imaginations. We’ve now got the flow that we could never get before with the ticking clock in the background
“Users want to get in to a website, buy, and get out again as quickly as possible”?
In 2005? Complete tosh.
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