Over the Fourth of July weekend I had a conversation with my friend, a retired engineer, and other guests over beer, chips and salsa. I’d been texting someone during our conversations, and so the discussion turned to cell phones and texting. My friend recently bought a cell phone and explained to us that he couldn’t, or wouldn’t, communicate with anyone using texts, since he felt it was improper and even disrespectful.

He went on to say that if someone called him while he was having dinner, he’d never answer the phone and only return the call later. He said that he had no use for texting. The interesting part is that he indicated that the cell phone was useful since it allowed him to make emergency phone calls or to be available for emergency calls. So apparently he was willing to change his behavior and learn to use a cell phone for that. The conversation reaffirmed in my mind that people generally will quickly adopt new concepts if they see “immediate perceived” value and most people will not implicitly adopt a new concept simple for the sake of it.

Ignoring text etiquette, I wanted to let him know the reasons texting provided value for me. In brief:

1. Texting enables me to me to communicate with people easily, efficiently and quietly.
2. Texting enables me to increase my sphere of influence and awareness.
3. Texts can be used in an extemporaneous and synchronous or asynchronous manner.

I don’t believe he was sold, but he did now see how it could provide value for someone like me.

So, what about the “unperceived” value of a new concept? What if there’s a product or a technology that has failed to market itself properly, or that has hidden innate value. Or another example, what if people have misinterpreted the value of something because they simply did not understand it? Take Twitter for instance. I’m sure you’ve heard the cliché phrase: Why would I want to know what so-and-so had for lunch? Everyone that reads this opinion is savvy, so I’m saying nothing new here, yet there seems to be a learning curve in truly understanding and unfolding the concept of microblogging and what it really brings to bear; the fact that Microblogs can be mined for time-sensitive information about any topic or event that is occurring around the world, provides us with a global awareness and consciousness that has never been known before. The more that people contribute the more valuable the content becomes. Having people rate that content compounds its value even more.

It has been said that as people get older they are less “willing” to adopt new concepts. I disagree; I believe that the “unwillingness” is in no way tied to age. Unwillingness just happens to become more noticeable as people age, due to the increased contrast between the “then” and the “now”. Unwillingness is a sometimes counter-intuitive self-preservation trait that can lie dormant or active in all of us, and that we have the power to change it.

I’ve been going through a lot of life changes, and I think it’s a perfect time to take inventory of my own unwillingness and see if there are things that I can do to improve my quality of life and work by being open to adopting new technologies. In the distant past I shied away from many technologies. So today I’m going to take a first step and write some Python code.

How do you find and cope with new concepts? When is it right to avoid a new technology or concept? Do you tend to be the adventuresome type and jump into things and only change your mind when you run into issues, or are you the more careful type that investigates before trying things? Or maybe, are you the type that sits back and waits until enough people say good things about it before using it? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment, and if twitter is your thing, follow us.