Correct! While it’s still possible for new technologies to succeed without taking advantage of current systems, doing so makes it much easier for people to widely adopt the new technology since it’s already supported by the systems already established.

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Correct! Often there isn’t time to learn the history of a field, so avoid such grand claims. It always helps to learn the key milestones of your technology beat so you can always have that background knowledge to draw from in these situations.

Correct! Because of the tendency for new technologies to destroy the value of their existing products and business lines, tech companies need to constantly innovate.

Correct! You may never understand them, and that’s okay. Electronics is based on complicated physics and mathematics. One workable compromise is to identify people who do understand these technologies, poll the views of at least three of them, tally their common conclusions and then identify inconsistencies.

Correct! For Personal Technologies stories, think smartphones, tablets, computers, speakers, and anything wearable, like a smartwatch. A common approach to covering personal technology is to report on how well new gadgets work while emphasizing what’s new or improved.

Correct! PR representatives can have good information for you, but it’s important to be aware. One way to defend yourself against the PR spin is to go to the PR rep from a rival company or a promoter of a competing technology. The PR rival often has plenty of reasons why their rival will fail.

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Correct! The gist of this powerful concept is that old habits are hard to break; having started down a path, society often sticks with an older technology because the costs of changing are too great, or the benefits don’t outweigh the hassle of making the change.

Correct! Because technology reporters have specialized knowledge and many sources on technological change, they are often asked by editors to report on social and cultural trends arising from those changes.