In the early days of a product, technology cannot meet all the needs of the users. Users would be more sensitive to the missing features, than to the existing features as well as to the usability of the product. Hence, users will keep demanding better and better technology, higher and higher performance.
But with time, technology matures, offering better performance and higher reliability. At some point, the technology exceeds the basic needs of most of its users. After that, there will be a major change in user behavior.
When the technology reaches the point where it satisfies basic needs, then improvements in the technology lose their glamour. User experience starts to take center stage. Users start seeking efficiency, reliability, low cost, and convenience. And new kinds of users keep entering the market as the product matures.
In the early phases, there were the early adopters, those who were willing to gamble on the new technology because they felt the benefits far exceeded the costs. More conservative users held back, waiting for the technology to prove itself, to become reliable. But when they start feeling comfortable with the product, they will enter the market, and the user community characteristics change drastically. At this point, if user experience aspects of the product is not well thought about, the product life would face a serious threat.
This is analogous to the cycle of market adoption described by Geoffrey Moore in his book "Crossing the Chasm"
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