• by Cory Treffiletti , Featured Contributor, August 3, 2005

In last week's Spin Board, someone wrote a response to my article that brought up a very good point: Technology may be adopted in NYC and other large cities, but when will it be adopted in the smaller markets? When will the "everyday American" adopt technology to the same level as the early adopters, the influentials, and everyone else we live and spend time with?

In order for this to happen, I think technology needs to get easy. I'm in the process of moving and one of the most daunting tasks that lay ahead are trying to disconnect and reconnect all of the various gadgets and systems that are in my house. It used to just be the stereo, but now I have a wireless network, the digital music system, four computers, the Xbox system, the VoIP, cable, and TiVo. All of the cords look the same and the mess behind my cabinet looks just plain scary, and I know what I'm doing. What does that bedlam look like to the uninitiated?

Technology is going to have to get a lot easier for the average consumer to integrate it into their daily lives.

Convergence is a step in the right direction. Your cable company can now offer you phone service, Internet service, cable, and the personal video recorder all together. This is great, but the connections and the set-up of these systems will still need to be simpler. Imagine the day when all of these systems come in through one wire and the user can plug and play. That's one of the things that keeps Apple loyalists so strong. Their products are designed to be simple plug-and-play devices rather than a morass of cords and connections. The typical product designer could learn a thing or two from Apple.

What about when something doesn't work? Fixing these gadgets is certainly getting easier, but it's time consuming and it never goes as easily as planned. I love it when I come home to find my wireless network no longer functioning and the reason I get from the friendly voice on the phone is "sometimes they just go down." Wow - that was worth the phone call right there. Pure technical expertise is hard to find these days!

The application of these systems needs to be simplified in order for the average consumer to adopt. Troubleshooting needs to be easier. Set up needs to be easier. For those millions of people that still have a blinking clock on their VCR, this stuff is just way too complicated.

There is also a business opportunity in there for those of you with some entrepreneurial spirit. Develop a team that can set up all of these systems for the average consumer and manage them for a small monthly fee; sort of an IT service for the home.

Now... back to trying to disconnect my world!