New technologies are being developed every single day. According to uspto.gov, there were 597,175 utility patents applied for in 2020. People are coming up with new things every year, hoping to come up with something that will change the world. However, we only ever hear about so many of these inventions. Only a few of them actually end up on store shelves. Why is that? Why do some inventions take off and become mainstream, while others fall by the wayside? Sociologist Everett Rogers attempted to find out why some inventions catch on and become a part of our everyday lives. Rogers created the Diffusion of innovations theory. It helped explain why and how quickly new ideas spread. He broke it down into five categories of the people who use the technology to help broaden its appeal. The first group is the pioneers. They are the ones who create the technology. Next are the early adopters. These people are usually more forward-thinking and willing to try out things before they become mainstream. They have the most opinion leadership of all of the groups. People will trust what they have to say. After that an early majority forms. They start using the invention after the early adopters have deemed it acceptable to use. They have social contact with the early adopters. Next are the late majority. They are skeptical about new inventions, waiting to see if they are actually useful. This group usually does not have contact with the opinion leaders and is not financially well-off. The last group is the laggards. They are the last to embrace new technologies. This group has no opinion leadership and is usually older and unwilling to change how they do things.
A technology we can analyze through the Diffusion of innovations theory is film. The pioneers of film were the ones who created the technology. The people who realized that projecting still images at rapid speed would create the illusion of movement. Other people responsible for the pioneering of film invented cameras, projectors, and sound equipment used for films. Two of the main people responsible for the pioneering of film were Thomas Edison and Edward Muybridge. The early adopters of the film industry were businessmen and filmmakers who started using the medium as a storytelling device. Businessmen had access to money to fund the projects and filmmakers were given money by the businessmen to create films to present to audiences. George Eastman and Lumière brothers were some of the early adopters of film. The early majority of films were the people going to watch. These people were audiences who would see films at makeshift theaters around the country. They would see these films and tell their friends about them. This also inspired more entrepreneurs to invest money and fund more films. The late majority was when film became a mainstream form of entertainment. People from all walks of life were going to the theater as it was a cheap form of entertainment. Filmmakers made different types of films that appealed to people from all walks of life. This turned off the intellectuals and upper class as they felt film had been cheapened since anyone could easily attend a film. Film became known as democratic art, it was for anyone who wanted to see it. The laggards were people who could not afford to go to films or thought it was too radical to attend. They would rather see a play or not want to consume any type of entertainment as they felt there were more important things to do in life than waste time watching films.
Motion pictures were one of the most radical and important inventions of all time. It built upon the idea of documenting visuals throughout history. However, not everything film has caused has been perfect. Film became weaponized by parties with an agenda. Adolph Hitler used film as a form of propaganda to make Germany agree with what he was saying. He did this by hiring Leni Riefenstahl to be his chief documentarian in creating propaganda. Today most films are created with messaging that appeals to one side of the political aisle. You could be watching a serious drama or a superhero blockbuster. The odds are both these films will have themes and ideas that are directly in line with the Democratic Party. Film is supposed to be an escapist form of entertainment that helps us not think about politics. That is just not possible anymore and could absolutely turn people off from watching them. The film industry risks isolating half of the country if they continue down this path of inserting politics into certain types of films. Another factor that could turn people off is how expensive it is to go to a movie. In 2020, the average movie ticket cost 9.37. That is simply too expensive, and can turn off low-income audience members who want to see a movie, but cannot because of the insane prices. There are negatives to the film industry that should not be ignored and should be discussed more than they are now. However, the positives that cinema has provided audiences around the world are too great to ignore and we are much better off that the film industry is as successful as it is today.
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