Ask HN: Are early adopters rich? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Are early adopters rich?

#21

Post by caseysoftware » Sun, Nov 28, 2010, 7:10 PM UTC

tomjen3 wrote: post #4

Not really, but I would imagine they are generally male, with a college degree and extreme tech proficiency.

I cut cable in 2003, restarted in 2007, cut again in late 2008.. but I fit that profile. Between Hulu and Netflix, I'm covered for everything except live sports. And since I'm not a sports guy and only watch with friends, I meet them at a bar.

Problem solved, $50+/month saved.

And when I cut the cable the last time, I asked them how much it'd cost to deactivate my cable modem. They immediately gave me a 33% discount.

Re: Ask HN: Are early adopters rich?

#22

Post by waterlesscloud » Sun, Nov 28, 2010, 7:13 PM UTC

I haven't had cable since the early 90s. I got frustrated at how annoying it was to set up service with them when I'd be paying $1000+ a year to them. So I gave up trying to make it easy for them to take my money and just never signed up up when I moved. I don't miss it, and I wish all the companies involved doom and gloom.

Re: Ask HN: Are early adopters rich?

#23

Post by phillian » Sun, Nov 28, 2010, 7:24 PM UTC

hexis wrote: post #9

I don't have anything better than my own anecdotal impressions, but it seems to me that early adopters tend to be smart, rather than rich. That said, most people I've known who were smart and not rich were also young. Most people I've known who were smart and responsible eventually started to accumulate money. So, even if an early adopter isn't rich now, chances are they will get there in time.

That's a great observation. From my own experience I would agree- smart & young sometimes requires thrift; smart & thrifty can be ageless; thrifty and young sometimes requires making smart choices.

And, eventually, the product of smart choices and thrift by someone young can make them rich.

That said, no- I don't know a single early adopter who is independently wealthy (which fits my definition of 'rich').

Re: Ask HN: Are early adopters rich?

#24

Post by jsz0 » Sun, Nov 28, 2010, 7:36 PM UTC

Sorting out the wealthy vs. non-wealthy is difficult. Way too many factors to consider. It's probably safer to say that early adopters are more willing to spend their money on technology/gadgets/service but it's not directly tied to income. If you can put aside maybe $2-3K/year you can be a prolific early adopter these days. It's confusing though in the context of cord-cutters because they're doing it to save money. Cable TV is just way too expensive.

Re: Ask HN: Are early adopters rich?

#25

Post by rythie » Sun, Nov 28, 2010, 7:48 PM UTC

You say are not rich, but you even though you like tech. you might not be an early adoptor either.

If you didn't have an iPhone or twitter account by 2007 or don't have accounts on lots of now failed startups from the day they got techcrunched, you're not an early adoptor.

I know I'm not particularly an early adoptor, most of my users are.

Re: Ask HN: Are early adopters rich?

#26

Post by zumbojo » Sun, Nov 28, 2010, 7:54 PM UTC

waterlesscloud wrote: post #22

I haven't had cable since the early 90s. I got frustrated at how annoying it was to set up service with them when I'd be paying $1000+ a year to them. So I gave up trying to make it easy for them to take my money and just never signed up up when I moved. I don't miss it, and I wish all the companies involved doom and gloom.

Same here; I think cable companies’ complacency in customer service issues isn’t receiving due consideration when discussing this “cord-cutting” trend.

When I purchased my house in 2008, I proceeded to call Comcast (intending to sign up for basic cable + Internet), set my iPhone on speakerphone, and paint the walls of my new rooms. After three nights of 30-45 minute waits with no answer, I gave up and purchased AT&T DSL.

Re: Ask HN: Are early adopters rich?

#27

Post by mason55 » Sun, Nov 28, 2010, 8:10 PM UTC

caseysoftware wrote: post #21

tomjen3 wrote: post #4

Not really, but I would imagine they are generally male, with a college degree and extreme tech proficiency.

I cut cable in 2003, restarted in 2007, cut again in late 2008.. but I fit that profile. Between Hulu and Netflix, I'm covered for everything except live sports. And since I'm not a sports guy and only watch with friends, I meet them at a bar. Problem solved, $50+/month saved. And when I cut the cable the last time, I asked them how much it'd cost to deactivate my cable modem. They immediately gave me a 33% discount.

> Problem solved, $50+/month saved.

Now that I think about it I spend a lot more than $50 at bars going out to watch live sports because I don't have cable.

Re: Ask HN: Are early adopters rich?

#28

Post by tomjen3 » Sun, Nov 28, 2010, 8:35 PM UTC

phillian wrote: post #12

tomjen3 wrote: post #4

Not really, but I would imagine they are generally male, with a college degree and extreme tech proficiency.

For what it's worth, I'm a female former English major. (Who also happens to be learning how to code.)

Well I was right on one count.

Re: Ask HN: Are early adopters rich?

#29

Post by lukeschlather » Sun, Nov 28, 2010, 8:57 PM UTC

I don't think cord-cutters qualify as early adopters anymore. With Hulu's paid offering and Netflix, cable is pretty much useless. At this point people who still have cable are mostly hidebound or sports aficionados.

Well, that and they have too many functional analog TVs. That's the only reason I haven't switched my parents off is that we'd need Boxee boxes or similar, and they haven't quite come down in price to the point where I'd rather not just buy a laptop and pretend it's a TV.

Re: Ask HN: Are early adopters rich?

#30

Post by phamilton » Mon, Nov 29, 2010, 12:34 AM UTC

jedberg wrote: post #8

I would personally say the opposite is true for me. When I was in college (and poor, living paycheck to paycheck), I would try every new thing. Mp3? What's that? Let me download some. This thing has some kinks? No problem, I'll figure it out and post my findings on a newsgroup. But now, as my income has gone up and my free time has gone down, I find myself doing less early adopting, and waiting a bit longer till all…

A big part of this is that the value of your time has gone up. The poor college kids have little or no value attached to their time. As you start getting paid more, being an early adopter has a higher opportunity cost.