The Attack of the Late Adopters

摘要

In 1982 Tele-Communications inc. (TCI) was one of the top three cable operators and one of the first to embrace "addressable boxes" for the purpose of adding channels. It could send "electronic hits" to its boxes to turn on or off premium channels. At that time most of America only had 35 or so analog channels. The plan was brilliant. Early adopters actually lined up for blocks to get an addressable box and get new channels like MTV, The Discovery Channel, Disney and Showtime, to name a few. No one minded waiting because back then, cable was a channel starved environment. This was my first introduction to "Early Adopters"-people who will pay more and wait in line for the promise of something new and better.