Bringing colleagues to technology

[omnisci]

I got in an argument with my boss/lab yesterday about technology that I thought HN may find relevant. For reference, I’m a neuroscientist at an IVY league school and work with really bright people(who are also young, 24-41 years old).

With that said, I figured they would be more into using technology, be it computers, mobile devices, software, online tools (dropbox, google docs)etc as it makes the job so much easier. And yet they don’t… in fact, it seems as though they are collectivity against trying new technologies.

Going back to yesterday, I brought up a new product that automates a time consuming/trivial task. I was expecting a “omG!?! That’s awesome!” response, but was surprised to hear “yeah, well…(enter excuses why this may not work here)”. No matter what, that technology which none of them have any experience with, was sure to be faulted. I’m fairly certain I could have said, “Jesus Christ himself guaranteed this works, look at this Youtube video of him using the system successfully” and they would still be reluctant and unwilling to try/listen. I’ve seen this 19038120938756127039.2 times and I just can’t understand that mentality.

I understand that ignorance is what drives this, I’ve witnessed this when I used to work in IT, but what I don’t understand is how to get people past the fear.

I’m asking HN as I’d like to get the opinion of those who make products and have had to get customers to use their new/awesome products. I know I’m going to run into this problem when I launch my product, so any advice, comments, and just plain old venting is welcomed.