Diffusion of Innovations

 The telephone was an innovation that involved numerous "pioneers" one of the most well known being Alexander Graham Bell along with the fact he was given credit for the patent of the idea. He created the phone to find innovative ways to communicate. Being that he was so interested in working with he deaf, and had lots of experience with sound waves, currents, and communication. Elisha Gray would also be considered another major pioneer. He had brought his idea to patent the telephone just hours later at the patent office but did not receive such a high level of credit as Alexander did. Alexander had also been the first ever to speak over a telephone line according to America's Library, with his assistant Thomas Watson on the other line. All three, and I am sure various others were to be considered pioneers not only because they had heavy involvement in the invention but because they saw major potential in the invention. 

First ever phone call

Elisha Gray 

Early adopters are considered to typically be those who are young, open minded, and are open to new ideas as well as trying new things. The company, American Telephone and Telegraph company, now current day AT&T  would be considered one of the early adopters. They were one of the first phone companies and were known for distributing about "ninety percent of all U.S. phone equipment," according to Britannica. They put their trust in the telephone and were willing to accept the new idea and with that the company grew so much it nearly became a monopoly. What is a monopoly you may be wondering? A monopoly is when a company has nearly no competition and has control of almost all the market for the specific products they are selling. 

The early majority would be considered those who decided to jump on the bandwagon and buy the phone earlier on. So, most likely those who buy it through the distributing company (AT&T). Because they are buying into the idea that the telephone is useful. Most likely because they believe it to be more efficient than the telegraph or previous devices they may have used. The later majority are those who bought the phone because it is  now socially acceptable. Just like how nowadays you expect people to have iPhones rather than Androids for example. Or even just have a cellphone in general. This is basically what the late majority is. As popular as the telephone may have grown to be, there will always be laggards. Laggards are those who resist buying a product. So, those who resisted or continued to resist buying the telephone would be laggard. There can be various explanations to why they refuse to make a purchase. Whether it is the fact they do not want to spend money on it, maybe they do not have the money, or find the product unnecessary in general. In the telephones case, some people found it to be useless because they believed the telegraph helped them communicate just fine, and was nearly the same. Or they just preferred to write letters, the old school way to their friends, family or loved ones. Each position is equally important to the diffusion theory and demonstrates how the people react and affect the products success over time.