Diffusion of Innovations

In this episode of Prishtina Book Talks, Zgjim Dida presents “Diffusion of Innovations” by the sociologist Everett M. Rogers, one of the most cited works in the social sciences, to explain why new ideas spread, or fail to spread. From the historical resistance to writing, the automobile and electricity to the classic study of hybrid corn in Iowa, Dida sets out the book's central thesis: the diffusion of an innovation is not a technological problem but a social process. That process moves from knowledge to persuasion, relies on networks and opinion leaders, and follows the S-curve of the five groups of adopters.

In the second part, Dida applies these concepts to cases from Kosovo and the world: the boycott of Serbian products 27 years after the war, the way the Kosovo war was reported in the American media, the computer that was replaced before it had fully spread, and the debate over whether artificial intelligence will replace programmers.

Some of the points covered: 📌 Why a good idea can wait decades, even centuries, before it is accepted 📌 Who persuades people to change: advertising or the neighbour? 📌 How a local superstition can defeat a solution that saves lives 📌 Who wins and who loses when a new innovation spreads 📌 What it would take for the boycott of Serbian products to become the norm in Kosovo 📌 Why AI's technological advantage does not by itself decide the fate of programmers

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