Recently I came across a blog posting about Web 2.0 advising people, that this technology isn’t going to go away and that if the audience’s excuse for not getting with the program was that they didn’t feel they were “the target market”, that they should get over it. 

Now, I am a lover of technology (I hear the “No Duh” out there).   I want the latest gadgets and play with things to learn them before resorting to opening the manual – and to be honest I have only a passing interest in target markets – but this one statement caught my attention and I have been pondering it for a day or so… it stuck with me so much that I am writing to share my thoughts on this concept.

First – where technology is concerned, I believe the “target market” is slim… we “early adopters” pave the way for mainstreaming technology and an “early adopter” in this field is either a young person or a seasoned tech person – there is a very narrow available demographic with the mindset to embrace the tech changes and nuances. 

Second – once something is mainstreamed it is no longer leading edge, and the people who use it just want it to work – they don’t really care why or how it works nor do they want to do much to make it work. 

Third – technology changes. If you wait long enough (and the wait time is getting shorter and shorter) something better, faster, simpler-appearing will show up.  It is the nature of the beast. 

What doesn’t change, as much, is the demographics of the people in the Target  Markets – the market segments may inflate or deflate but the specifics are fairly steady.  What does this mean?  Basically, if a person declares that they are not in the target market – take them at their word.  Which is really good manners anyway…