My family's wireless plan rolls over this month, so I added a line for myself. I hate it already. Don't ask me for the number because I don't know what it is.

As a late adopter, I have helped retard technological progress for decades. While I bought my first computer in 1985, I didn't own a CD player until 1995. I don't have a digital camera. But I take comfort from this NYT story from this year on late adopters.

Experts say that late adopters, or technology laggards, are not necessarily Luddites and can play a pivotal role in keeping the beat of innovation.

“Laggards have a bad rap, but they are crucial in pacing the nature of change,” said Paul Saffo, a technology forecaster in Silicon Valley. “Innovation requires the push of early adopters and the pull of laypeople asking whether something really works. If this was a world in which only early adopters got to choose, we’d all be using CB radios and quadraphonic stereo.”