Early Adopters' Bragging Rights Dwindle

Only two months after the launch of the iPhone, Apple angered its fan base of early adopters by dropping the phone's price sharply. Apple's move signals a broader shift in product life cycles: the shelf life of bragging rights for which early adopters of new gadgets pay premium prices is growing ever shorter, PC World reports.

While the iPhone price drop was especially dramatic, rapid advances in semiconductor technology have made product cycles much shorter. Early adopters increasingly find themselves having to repurchase upgraded versions of their new toys. Despite the growing disadvantages, however, experts believe it will remain "human nature" for early adopters to pay extra for "the newest, coolest stuff." (More iPhone stories.)