What is technology adoption life cycle and chasm?

The technology adoption life cycle is a sociological model that describes the adoption or acceptance of a new product or innovation, according to the demographic and psychological characteristics of defined adopter groups. The process of adoption over time is typically illustrated as a classical normal distribution.The model indicates that the first group of people to use a new product is called “innovators,” followed by “early adopters”. Next come the early majority and late majority, and the last group to eventually adopt a product are called “laggards”.

Innovators — had larger farms, were more educated, more prosperous and more risk-oriented
early adopters — younger, more educated, tended to be community leaders, less prosperous
early majority — more conservative but open to new ideas, active in community and influence to neighbors
late majority — older, less educated, fairly conservative and less socially active
laggards — very conservative, had small farms and capital, oldest and least educated

Crossing the Chasm is closely related to the technology adoption life cycle where five main segments are recognized: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. The most difficult step is making the transition between early adopters and majority. This is the chasm that he refers to. If a successful firm can create a major effect in which enough momentum builds, then the product becomes a standard.