Dogs, cats and SaaS

I've been terrorizing friends, relatives, stores I shop at, etc, trying to convince them to do more online. I can't help it when I see someone collect event RSVPs by phone or manage group schedules using printed forms.

Last week I told Jeff that I feel like I spent the last decade in a bubble. People in the outside world have so much less contact with technology than I realized. I'm still trying to digest his response - that yes, people spend much more money on their pets.

Because I've also been meeting a lot of soon-to-be pet owners. While volunteering at the animal shelter, I've noticed there tends to be clear dividing lines between dog people and cat people, not to mention fans of Beagles vs Poodles, Boxers vs Labs, etc. I was surprised when a woman spent ages gazing at a ferocious Pomeranian with matted hair. She wanted a Pomeranian; she's always been a Pomeranian person.

Maybe the same kind of self-identification explains why my friend Tara was initially hesitant to post photos on the Flickr account I set up for her non-profit? She said she's just not a social networking person. But since she does see herself as a media person, Flickr/YouTube/etc became acceptable tools after I brought up Richard Rosenblatt's notion of ChannelMe.

My mom, too, put off building a website for her research group until I signed her up for TypePad. She insisted that HTML = computer programming and she's not a computer person. I reminded her that back in 1990, she was one of the first professors at her university to get on their email system - via Gnus/Emacs! We aren't always rational in choosing labels for ourselves.

I guess the moral of the story is, people *don't* want easy, affordable technology solutions. Or dogs. They won't adopt what they can't relate to, no matter how many seemingly logical reasons you give them. Last Saturday I took a class on improving shelter dogs' communication skills. Could the same tricks improve adoption rates for technology tools? Maybe I'll find out once I try them out.

Comments

[Kellie]

It's true. I spend a fair amount of time mixing with people from all walks and I'm *constantly* amused at how reticent they are to adopt new technologies. I, like you, also will go to the trouble of setting up accounts for them. Some work out and people pick things up and run with them. Other times it goes no where. It's all about finding the right way to introduce things. I think.

[dave shields]

Isabel,

Please read

http://thewit.wordpress.com

the site of The Women In Technology Project

By this comment, and an email I will soon send your way I invite you to become a co-founder of the project.

thanks,
dave

[David]

I think there are a couple of things to remember here:

Using technology means migrating from things that already work for us. I think technophiles or technocompanies often do a poor job at showing people how technology will actually improve people's lives.

We already know how to use the things we use. I've let go of several pieces of technology that may have made my life easier simply because I'm not willing to wade through 80,000 potentially relevant posts in a user generated support forum to figure out why something isn't working.

People have much different views of privacy. A lot of the cool social networking tools either intentionally, or unintentionally, leak personal information. Consider a school teacher: does he want his students to be able to review and comment on his flickr stream?

[Dave Monk]

I read that pets, gardening and wine are three of the biggest areas of discretionary personal spending on a broad basis. Interesting how tangible (non-virtual) all of these product areas are.

I think the technology bubble we live in is both generational and personality/affinity based. Some of us are just drawn to these cool technology tools. Some people who are very cautious, fear change and tend to be set in their ways are slow adopters.

I think you are right on about how people choose labels for themselves. My own mom considers herself tech challenged. But I was always so pleased when my she would call me with Photoshop questions. And I too remind her that she has been using her computers since 1992.

I have been amazed to see in some small business environments how companies invest thousands in technologies which they never adopt. So often it comes down to the personalities of their leaders. They are too busy to adopt the very things that will help them with their busyness and productivity.

I think that a patient layering on of the message of the benefits of technology tools and a bit of peer pressure have the best long term results. Let us know how the dog communication skills tricks work!

[Isabel Wang]

Wow - three comments in a row by three people with the same first name? I'm going to go buy a Powerball ticket! :)

I think what people with non-technical backgrounds really *don't* want is technology for technology's sake. They've established routines that more or less work. Like David S. says, they're not all that eager to disrupt their way of life - especially if the value propositions being marketed don't really resonate.

Ironically, the more non-relevant features/benefits they hear about, the less interested they become in trying out new products/services.

I had always assumed that knowledge is the key driver of technology adoption - so training is important, and good documentation, and a well designed UI, etc. I'm just now starting to realize that people only learn things that matter to them.

So I agree with Kellie. If you can put a product's features/benefits in the right context, end users like my mom, a literature professor, will invest enormous amounts of time in learning something as alien to their backgrounds as Unix.

[Misha]

This post is way over my head, but I am a bit curious. How do you improve shelter dogs' communication skills, anyway?

I have 3 of those and they don't speak a lick of English no matter how many cans of alphabet soup I feed them.

[Ryan]

There is also something to be said about an organic process. In this crazy world of technology and gadgets one is easily consumed by data and tools.

The more ingrained technology is in our lives the quicker we depart from traditional means of communication.

For instance I've had arguments about print. People think that since newspapers are failing that print is going away. Its the furthest from the truth, however if we all did succumb to the digital age we wouldn't have a need for print or art - we could just pull it up on the web.