Diffusion of Innovation

Throughout history, The Diffusion of Innovation Theory has been prevalent during the rise and evolution of almost every major invention, methodology, and idea. The theory breaks down the process by which a product is introduced to society, and which members or sectors of society adopt the product/method as common practice and at what pace. It is interesting to look at the history of various technologies and to apply Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation to it in order to understand the rate in which it became widely accepted amongst citizens. 

For my blog post, I am going to look at the history and evolution of the ice auger.  Now widely available in ranging high tech models for steep price tags, the ice auger was once only available as a simple, metal, handheld model. This worked for one purpose: to help ice fishermen drill a hole in the ice faster and easier. Originally patented in 1840, this revolutionized northern communities for decades. Even today, the manual auger is portable, inexpensive, and its lightweight makes it very easy to transport. 

In 1948, Jiffy unveiled the first gas powered auger. The first people to buy this product would have been considered the innovators. These would be the people likely drawn to the ease of the product compared to the manual labor, however, the cost deterred many consumers. These products
were also very heavy and required upkeep that the handheld auger did not. As the product continued to the develop, the early adopters began to acquire this product, making it more accessible to the mass marketing, thus fueling innovation and improvements within the industry. By now, the product is mainstream and the early and late majority are regular users of the gas auger (and the early adopters are moving onto electric ones, but that is another topic). 

Although technology has drastically improved since the handheld auger first rolled out in 1840, there are many people that still believe that models similar to the original ones are the "best". Some people refer to these individuals as traditionalists, but the Diffusion of Innovation Theory would refer to fishermen using a manual auger as "laggards". There will always be a percentage of the population that are unwilling to adopt a new product/methodology/idea.