Collaborative technologies provide the opportunity to collaborate. People use them when they have the motivation to collaborate. If the motivation is high enough, and the existing opportunity is low enough, the technology doesn’t have to be that great (eg SMS). If the technology we are offering, however, is worse than what people are used to, then they won’t adopt it.
In the adult world, the default is email. If nine out of ten people adopt the new technology and one keeps using email, everyone has to keep using email. That’s why we built GroupServer and OnlineGroups.Net to use email.
In the youth world, there is no default. It’s a highly dynamic mix of SMS, IM, social networking and MMORGs.
So what do you do if people won’t adopt your technology? I think do as the Halcum folks do and adopt theirs.