Learn from the mistakes of others

But early adopters? Perhaps 'early adopters' in the sense than when the new tech is available, the uptake on it is faster than in other places, on a per capita basis...

In that sense exactly.

we don't have the population base to support this sort of market

Poppycock. It's a global market for technology now. There are reasons other than "market size" for why, for example, we don't get to drive cars with equipment levels matching foreign standards.

There are some cultural defects in our technology-business landscape that are very hard to break.