Laptop gender wars: What your netbook (or Toughbook) says about you

Updated Survey results at Retrevo

Hi Josh,

The survey results (with more details) can be seen at: http://www.retrevo.com/content/blog/2009/04/what-do-women-know-about-gadgets
Would appreciate if you can update the link, rather than the Reuters news release.

Very interesting

Good article, Josh! (I'm over here from the Comics Curmudgeon.) As a female who loves her computer and deeply resents any gendered IT advertising, I really found it interesting!

I have one of those little

I have one of those little mini PC's and it works like a champ and does everything a full-sized computer can. I can't tell you the number of ladies who have gushed and cooed over how cute it is. It's better than walking a dog, swear to God.

So I don't know what that guy's problem is. Sounds like he's got PC envy.

Yes, interesting and

Yes, interesting and well-written. When it comes to computers, I tend to think less in terms of gender than in terms of the Savvy and the Intimidated. I suspect that as a group, with of course many exceptions, women may be more willing than men to acknowledge membership in the Intimidated category, though I bet there are just as many men who belong to it.

And I can't believe I have to type the title of a hideous movie to get this posted:-).

I second the idea that Apple

I second the idea that Apple does a good job at non-obnoxious marketing. I'm an 18-year-old girl, and just bought a new MacBook pro. Apple stresses the aesthetics, and does emphasize the design of the machine (as they should; it's lovely), but there's none of this pink bullshit. When I graduate I will conceivably be able to take my computer into a business environment and be taken seriously, and that--plus the elegance of the design and stable, stable OS--is way more appealing than "She's a teen girl! She likes pink! Maybe we can put butterflies on it!" would ever be.

Also, yay, Comics Curmudgeon!

Nicely written Josh! This

Nicely written Josh! This is slightly off-topic, but this makes me think about how annoyed I get that some clothing designers (mostly your mass-produced stuff) think that the "female" version of a T-shirt is to have it with cuff sleeves. I have a short torso so even the small sizes of "male" shirts are too long for me. In the end it's their loss since I refuse to buy "baby tees" and shirts with cuff sleeves. I don't know why they think that is the only way to sell clothes to females, though. Sure, have the baby tees, have the pink electronics, whatever, but to have that be your only offering to women is ridiculous. No doubt there are people who want that stuff, but me, I like my sleeves a normal length, and I like my electronics black, and if that's not what you're offering, then you're not getting my money.

On the other hand, pink!

I don't doubt that the thrust of this article is true. However, the pink does work for some women. My girlfriend has a pink laptop, a pink mouse, a pink Nintendo DS, a pink cover on her "wiimote", and so on. It's pretty shocking. That I have a girlfriend, I mean, not the pink stuff.

Marketing computers to genders

I'm another refugee from CC. Good analysis. Based on some discussions I've had, women tend to go for Apple laptops and men Windows laptops.

This is supposedly because: (1) Men want something they can tweak and customize and tinker with until they get it just right; and (2) women want something that is "right" out of the box.

Putting aside whether the conclusions concerning Windows and Apple are correct, does this seem valid?

interesting article

I like to think that I make my technology choices purely on the technical merits of the product. But you're right that laptops (and most technology) have become commodities with very little difference between the various brands and models. So once I narrow down my options to the five or six models that meet my needs, the marketing and the design are all that's left to differentiate the products. Given five laptops, all meeting my needs for memory, processing speed, weight, available applications, and price, I'll buy the cute one. [Note: cute is in the eye of the beholder: I go for the one that has a streamlined design rather than the one that comes in pink.] I imagine a guy might be the non-cute one, unless he wants to use it to pick up women.

Cell phones are being marketed in pink and I've seen enough women with pink sparkly phones to think that they're selling fairly well. But you take your cell phone with you when you go out after work; hopefully you're not lugging your laptop to happy hour. So the cellphone is a more personal piece of technology than the laptop -- maybe that's what drives the different marketing strategy? Or it might be the price of the item, laptops being a larger investment. Or maybe it's the amount of time you expect to keep it: people would be more willing to try out a pink cell phone knowing they'll probably trade it in for a new one in a year or so, whereas they'll be stuck with a pink laptop for a longer time.

I enjoyed this article. You got me thinking about design and marketing in a new way.

I hate pink, and I resent

I hate pink, and I resent marketers who think that all they have to do to get me to buy something is to drench it in that color. And yet, I do crave something like the HP Vivienne Tam edition notebook -- so pretty!

So, marketing aesthetics does work, or would, if I could afford to buy a new notebook when I have a perfectly functional one already.

Bonus: verification code is "stocks erred." Boy, did they ever!

IT gender gap

Good article on gender misunderstandings in the IT world. Because that is what you really touched on, especially with the guy who felt his manhood falter at the mention of his cute hardware. I've noted that male IT types are more afraid of having their manhood questioned than most other professions. I'm a guy, even spent fourteen years in the Navy, and when I went to CIS school as a civilian I couldn't believe the constant posturing and confrontation that so many (young) men had with the women classmates. Plus the mindset that I've seen with so many IT guys of only giving information in drips and drabs. Never just spit out the answer. It's amazing to me.

By the way, I have a pinkish (rose?) Lenovo S10, because it was on sale, and I didn't hesitate to save the money. I have a colleague that just shakes his head when I carry it around, and tells me he could never carry a "pink laptop."

Whatever.

CaitieCat owned you over at

CaitieCat owned you over at Shakesville. Try harder next time please.

http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2009/05/does-this-laptop-make-me-look-gay.html

Gender Wars

I agree that more men like Windows. I don't know what I would do if I had nothing to tweak.
Jim

good subjet

its very good projected. diyet
winx
dizin

Gender based advertising

For many years I have made it somewhat a hobby to analyze advertising and what market or niche it is aimed at. If I hate it, it is pretty surely aimed at another market; neutral requires further assessment; love it = they got me dead on. When I recently received a modified Dell Vostro 2510, I was somewhat surprised to find a candy apple red laptop in the box. After a little thought, I've decided that with some hot rod flames, Moon Eyes and Crane Cam decals, and a change to a "vroom-vroom" sound on bootup, it will be OK.

Peace, Doc

Did IT World read this?

I'm guessing the editors or at least ad people didn't read this. At the bottom of page 1 was what looked like a recruiting ad, "Women In IT", done in all shades of PINK!

Thanks Josh.

As someone who took a lot of classes on gender, psychology and advertising - I found this a really interesting article.

And as a woman working in an IT dept. (our dept. is led by a woman, half the programmers are women), I can tell you many of us not only hate the stereotypes (I will not buy anything PINK!) , but also, (as you point out) it's irritating that in technology male is still considered the standard/normal and women are supposedly still the "other" gender gender who aren't technologically savvy.

Now I'll get back to reading your feelings about Family Circus....

I'm another refugee from CC.

I'm another refugee from CC. Good analysis. Based on some discussions I've had, women tend to go for Apple laptops and men Windows laptops.
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