Flying Fingers, Diffusing Ideas

Flying fingers.  I have never seen fingers move so fast in my life.  The fingers I refer to belonged to an undergraduate student who sat next to me at a function.  He sent a text message, received a text message, and sent another text message all within thirty seconds before the theatre went dark.  I sat there amazed at his dexterity.
Text messaging is a wonderful invention.  It is perfect for when you need to get a quick message to someone and don't want to bother that person or the times when you are in a situation where you can't really talk.  It also saves many cell phone minutes. 
Over the last month, I've attempted to impart the virtues of text messaging to my father.  He recently took a job that requires a great deal of traveling.  We are close and like to talk on a regular basis, but lately it has become difficult.  I resolved to send him a text message. Dad understands what they are, but not quite how to use them, and consistently asks why I can't make a phone call like everybody else. 
The student and my father are two examples of the diffusion process that Rodgers refers to in his chapter Elements of Diffusion.  The undergrad had adopted the technology of text messaging as a method of quick communication within his social system.  My father, on the other hand, does not comprehend the value.  His social network communicates through the traditional telephone. 
Adaptations of technology in schools are analogous to the undergraduate student and my father.  Individuals adopt technology more quickly than groups.  Individuals join together in groups of similar interests.  The current people in school administration are about Dad's age and share his generation's traditional values.  Schools will continue to resist some of the newer technology as long as the baby boomers remain in power.  Change will come about when the younger generation, along with the social network and values, gain positions of power.  These technologically proficient individuals will grow in numbers to form the core of the institution bringing about change.  It is possible to bring about change in the older generation, but it would require talking to the most influential people in the social group and asking them to change their values.