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This pattern is often attributed to the work of economist Daniel Kahneman and psychologist Amos Tversky, who observed that people tend to move from a state of complete ignorance to one of full awareness. This is most prevalent in the areas of decision making and social norms. Technology has certainly been at the forefront of this cycle, and it is only natural that we adopt new or improved technologies as they become available.
This cycle is a result of the way in which people learn. We’ve all been in the same situation before, and in the past we’ve had a lot of different ways to solve the problem. For example, we could have gone to the local drug store, called the shop, and picked out the drugs while they were still available. Or, we could have gone to the mall and purchased the items we needed for the day.
Technology cycles have a similar s-curve pattern to this one.