Women say no to pink tech toys

Advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi has put down in black and white what plenty of women around here have been thinking for ages: we want technology but we don't want it coloured pink or encrusted with fake gemstones. The company recently polled female internet users here in the UK and found that most of them believe …

[geeky]

Green is the new Pink

I agree with this article! It's still of men to think grown women want their phones, laptops and headsets to be pink. It's almost as if they cannot project past the needs of a 12 year old tween from the 1990's.

Thank God silver/chrome/grey is seen as something both genders like. Look at computers; for years they were ugly beige boxes. Now everyone is rolling out silver and black desktop, servers and notebooks.

I simply think this is a wakeup call to a woman owned company to rebrand technology products for women. Think of all the hardware that is never purchased because it looks silly...it has to go somewhere.

[Anonymous Coward]

The strong scent of male

'One respondent said electronics retailers "reek of a strong scent of man" - unsurprising, given the average British male's unfamiliarity with soap. They hide their money under it, I'm told.'

Just so long as they learn to fix the problem (that is, find the SOAP), instead of trying apply a hotfix (more aftershave/deo/whatever). Here in the States the smell of an unwashed bod is considered offensive, but for some reason, slapping some cheap ass scent over it is a popular fix for some people. Now, I can understand this if you're working a job where you've been sweating all day, and it's three o'clock, and there is no shower to be seen - unfortunate, but that's the breaks. But at 10 in the morning? In an air conditioned building? Day after day after stench filled day?

This may be good enough for some people, but for anyone with a sensitive nose, we just smell the stink AND the cheap scent, all mixed together. About as pleasant to your nose as a teenage garage band amped up to and succesfully competing with some major road construction during the simultaneous take off of seventeen and one half jumbo jets is on your ears. Yay.

[Dana W]

The pink gadgets.....

I went through a short run of pink gadgets, I admit it, it was cute for about a week. Then it got old fast. "Though I still love my pink Nintendo DS, it annoys male gamers no end" In the end though I found myself wondering how I EVER thought a pink phone was a good idea?

I was in the drug store this week and saw pink ear plugs for women, I kid you not. That is when I finally realized how utterly out of hand it had gotten.

I couldn't agree with you more, enough with the pink and lavender, Design them well, make them light, efficient, and easy to use, A gadget can be pleasing to the eye and attractive and functional in design to women as well as men without being pink, lavender, or encrusted with crystals.

Apple has some of the most esthetically pleasing devices today and they have never stooped to pink, any more than they would stoop to the gaming machines with skulls and the lighted fans and such that the independent PC manufacturers sell to teenage boys of all ages.

Apple sells to a LOT of women without tarting their hardware up in silly ways.

The companies need to be told, design for PEOPLE not for genders.

[James]

so I take it you won't be buying a new zune?

Seriously, the person responsible for that new zune and any pink jewel encrusted doohickeys ought to be dragged through the streets. Though I can say this, If I were a 13 year old girl, I would love that thing

[Anonymous Coward]

A WOMAN!

...Gulp. Heh

Hello, how r u?

[Maty]

yawn

Presumably the over-the-top anti-male attitude is meant to be satirical, but sexism is just as offensive when a women does it. Geeks are geeks. Talk tech to them, and they forget your gender in an eyeblink. If this is your best shot, I'd suggest you leave the tech talk to Verity Stob, and take yourself back to Ann Summers.

[Greg]

Not entirely sure I agree!

We have a rather useless laptop in our office, because a rather useless sales rep bought it for herself (with company money), broke it, then left the company. We could have it fixed and given to someone else, but no-one wants it, because it's bright pink.

Maybe it's just *thick* women that like pink and fake gems. I've certainly seen enough chav lasses with fake diamonds on their phones (no, seriously - new fad around here) and pink tracksuits on.

[Jason Clery]

patronising and offensive attitudes

"Well, for starters, patronising and offensive attitudes"

"The TOYboy* tells me that's true of many men too, but then they're not as bright as we are, so what can you expect?"

"unsurprising, given the average British male's unfamiliarity with soap."

Hypocrite

[Anonymous Coward]

Apple never get anything wrong ever (ever)

No, of course Apple have never 'stooped' to selling a pink product:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Apple-iPod-nano-4GB-Pink/dp/B000HZA0KI

That must just be bad colourisation on the image I guess...

[Christine]

We're not so different.

Women want exactly the same thing men want. Light, sleek, rugged, and long battery life. Cheap is also a good selling point.

The only major difference is that a small but not insignicant portion of the female marker also want a machine that will fit into a handbag. (Us manly men would ofcourse be using a "satchel".) If Steve Jobs is listening, my GF would reallly really like an 11" macbook. Yeah and honestly, I'd like one too.

What neither men nor women want (in contrast to the absolutely miniscule pubescent male gaymer market which the majority of IT seems geared to) is massive amounts of superbright blue LEDs, giant pieces of ugly plastic that do nothing but waste space and inhibit cooling (looking at you Xbox, Inspiron 6xxx, 9xxx), swarovski crystal, or tacky aluminium decals.

[David]

Apple

@Dana

"Apple has some of the most esthetically pleasing devices today and they have never stooped to pink"

I'm not so sure about that. Wasn't Apple the one who set this whole pink thing in motion with over-advertising pink iPods?

[Torben Mogensen]

One purpose of pink

One of my friends said she bought a pink PDA so she could have it in peace from her teenage sons -- no way were they getting caught using something so girlish.

[Mike Taylor]

Apple have never sunk to pink?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Apple-iPod-mini-4GB-M9435B/dp/B0001Q25YC

http://www.play.com/Electronics/Electronics/4-/3310531/New-Apple-iPod-Shuffle-1GB/Product.html

Uhhuh.

Still I won't get one until it's made out of dead cow and smells like a man.

[Anonymous Coward]

But thats wrong....

There clearly is a market for Pink. Not all women like it, but some do, the same with the flasy neon stuff. Not all men like that, but some do.

Second point, ever been into an electronics shop and seen how they talk to anyone? These arnt geeks. They are idiots. They will talk down to anyone.

I admit alot of them are eager to talk to the person the perceve as the "tech person", and will then talk down to them, which is always fun when I run rings around them, then my Wife dose, just to upset them even more. Shame in some ways the days of the BBC are gone, as it was always fun to go in to Dixons and type:

10: Print "Error"

20: GoTo 10

and watch them run around like headless chicken thinink the computor was broken. That always made me feel a bit better. (My basic is probably wrong, as it is many years since I used it.)

[Tom Majerski]

You are as prejudice as the people you are writing about

You are the worst kind of sexist

[Anonymous Coward]

actually, women say yes to pink tech toys

I seen a laptop chosen for its colour (pink) over one with better specifications in the same price range.

So I would say add superbright pink LEDs and my little pony fan grills which waste space and inhibit cooling if you are looking to shift boxes to the lasses.

However the reason PCs were in beige boxes was more about cost than looks. I'm pretty sure male and female geeks consider the tech as sexy and not so much the looks. I'm sure custom boxes started off as a kind of joke and a bit of fun at LAN parties and just got out of hand.

However, when you sell kit to the general market (non techies) , looks are everything.

------------

re: Christine ("We're not so different.")

I can't work you out mate.

"Christine" (female), "Us manly men" (male), "my GF" (either), "11' MacBook" (girl with a liking for 11' toys :-) ), "male gaymer market" (bitchy girl).

So Probably a confused male. :)

------------

[Anonymous Coward]

What is a geek?

What is a geek? Someone with a creditcard and disposable income? Like Bill Hicks said you're really just one of the docile consumer masses. People have really too high an opinion of themselves. Why don't people try understanding and thinking instead of endless consuming more crap to fill artificial needs. Try reading some books instead of swallowing up even more unnecessary doohickeys to fill that aching gap in your pointless fucking life.

[Anonymous Coward]

Not always the case

I was sent a red Nokia by Vodafone that was actually pink, i put it on Ebay to sell expecting £80 in the end it sold for £130 as four women all desperatly wanted a pink phone. They obviously didn't realise that they could buy a £5 pink cover.

[Anonymous Coward]

Girly Geekdom - Stereotype Bingo & The pink thing!

There is definitely a place for pink, (a small female market) but there is also a larger female market that demands style, function and usability (all of which Apple seem to have got right - and many who know me also know I'm not an apple fan - I don't own a single apple product!)

Recently over at Girly Geekdom (http://girlygeekdom.blogspot.com/2007/09/stereotype-bingo-winner-o2.html) we did a couple of little experiments. The first one was to get a group of tech girl and guy geeks to come up with a logo for Girl Geek Dinners. The first thing that came out of it with all the designs was that they were all various shades of pink... why... because it's the quickest and easiest way to distinguish that the events are aimed at women. We even had a discussion about this bizarre fact. In the end we gave into the pink thing (I as a female hates pink, won't wear it and really don't identify with it!)

On the other side of things, when you are carrying a device, it is already apparent (with most women) that they are indeed women and therefore don't need a gadget to identify that fact. So... are marketeers just lazy or are they missing the fact that the majority of women don't actually like the colour pink as much as all that. If you had a choice between a pink ds, a black ds and a metallic silver or blue ds... which would you choose? Personally I'd go for the metallic one... Black looks too dark and dull, pink, too girly.... I'd love to have the choice of something in the middle

[Andy Worth]

Article creator = sexist and more importantly, wrong

For a start, the whole article was written with the attitude, "well if I don't want it, nobody does", which is a terrible way to look at it when plainly there appears to be a market for these "pink" things. Aside from that, the article was written with a sexist feminist overtone and while it might be supposed to be satirical, it doesn't come across like that. It comes across as an angry woman stamping her foot because the products she "thinks" are aimed at her don't match her personal taste.

Style plays a large part in a lot of manufacturers products. They know that quite a proportion of people will show a preference to products which they find aesthetically pleasing, male or female. The "pink" products (I use this to describe the general collection of products the writer finds "wrong") are there to satisfy a specific portion of buyers, i.e. those with no taste (in my opinion). There are many very nicely designed and beautiful products and the writer is completely wrong in the assumption that this isn't ALREADY partly to do with the female portion of the market.

Basically the assumption of the writer is that women haven't been thought of at all when designing the mass of stylish products, and these are in fact aimed at men. The truth is that with the exception of particular sex-specific products, they were designed with the mass market in mind, irrespective of gender.

I hate sexists.

[Anonymous Coward]

Sooo Wrong

Think you should take a look at Ann Summers a bit closer. For starters, I think you'll find many pink and fake diamond encrusted devices there, many will help you relax a little and lose some of that pent up frustration.

[Luke Wells]

My girlfriend likes pink gadets.

My girlfriend has no interest in videogames, but when the pink nintendo DS came out she had to have one. Same with mobile phones, never really bothered her, she's always had some rubbish old b&w phone till the nokia 7390 came out in pink complete with some wierd label sticking out of the side of it.

Now she wants a pink mp3 player... and I'm sure it wont be long before she wants a pink plasma screen for the living room (if they exist)

[Hayden Clark]

POKE 16437,127

.. was enough to kill a ZX81. In about 5 minutes, after you'd walked away. buhahahah!

I'll get me coat.

[Anonymous Coward]

Bloomin' Wimmin

Any point was lost by shooting yourself in the foot several times making wimmin-ising cheap shots at men. If women's views aren't being listened to then perhaps not including "Men smell, they never wash, stinky!" and other patronising junk among them would be a good start on getting them heard instead. The retort that men wouldn't smell if their lazy preening gfs could get up off their ballooning behinds and do the washing every now and again ... is about all this article deserves. Cheap-shot for cheap-shot.

[Dave Walker]

Defending the Beige

I can't really believe I'm doing this but my inner historian *insists*: Beige was once considered stylish!

Believe it or not, some savvy early computer manufacturers, Apple included, actually decided to make their boxes beige to better match the office decor of the mid to late 1970's so that they would be accepted next to the typewriters and telephones instead of looking "Sci-Fi" or nerdish.

Even the colour derided as beige is not the beige of yesteryear; it really is a darker tan colour than the lighter 'platinum gray' or 'off-white' most commonly derided today as the "beige box". Plenty of latitude remains for the use of 'putty' and 'taupe'. Considering that the fashion came on the heels of 'Harvest Gold", "Toasted Almond', and "Avocado Green" maybe we should consider ourselves lucky that beige has held up so well.

DX - Philadelphia

[Tom Cully]

Er..

Well, I suppose you girls could just buy the standard, non-pink, non-patronising, fully functional products ~online~, maybe without the faux-offended mewling, and then - stunningly - we'd see less fake bling-encrusted sickly-puce little-girl-spoilt affronts to digital style and fashion polluting our marketplace.

But, being a smelly idiot like every member of my gender, what would I know? Come on Widow, I normally enjoy your articles - but today you seem to have had your brain hijacked by a neo-ultrafeminist malcontent devoid of a worthy point.

[Anonymous Coward]

Women really do prefer pink

See the Economist:

http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9682588

[Dan]

Ad on this page

Who the f*** allowed that annoying moving column on the right with the ads in?!

[Dave]

So you don't like them now?

Just noticed your previous artical here, http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/07/03/hw_philips_active_crystals/

So you liked them then, but now think they are rubbish?

[Dana W]

So I missed one.

I missed a pink nano, so sue me. I never saw one. Ever, Not even at the Apple store. And now there are NO pink iPods. Notice that is a VERY obsolete model.

There have never been pink MacBooks, or pink iPhones, The pink Nano didn't sell, now its gone. The new Nano does not come in pink.

Apple listen to its costumer base. Imagine that.

And I'm glad the pedants were sure to pick on the use of the word "stooped" I am an American, therefore my English is often less than perfect. I understand English, I speak American. If it helps, consider it a cultural handicap.

[Luther Blissett]

Black and errrr... grey?

Luther sometimes gets asked by women what he recommends in tech toys. He says imagine it's c**k - you want it (a) to work, (b) to keep on working, (c) not to give you grief. They think about it for a bit, then buy a Thinkpad.

Black was always the new black. (As for "silver", for crying out aloud, look at it - it's grey).

[Anonymous Coward]

It's not sexism; they patronise EVERYBODY

"Well, for starters, patronising and offensive attitudes, if the S&S poll is anything to go by. Blokes behind shop counters are not, it seems, particularly well versed in treating women as equals - or customers, for that matter."

Don't assume the patronising attitude is due to your gender; sales droids will patronise everybody.

"One respondent said electronics retailers "reek of a strong scent of man" - unsurprising, given the average British male's unfamiliarity with soap. "

I think they might wash themselves quite often; it's just that they neglect to wash their clothes. At least thats what my wife tells me.

[Rachel]

Umm yeah

I have never cared for pink and I would never buy a phone, laptop, etc.. that was coated in it.

At the same time, I've always custom built my own PC and I always go for function over looks when it comes to the tower. Forge the fancy LEDs or the see-through case. I'd rather spend that extra money on an extra cooler, ram or video card.

[Andy Bright]

So close..

Der, Doh, Duh - however you phrase it, from whatever country you come from, a truly excellent article on the bleeding obvious.

Sure there are exceptions, chavs come in both male and female boxes, some still drive Capris and many have Kev and Shaz sun screens hidden behind a mass of fluffy dice.

Point is that only a complete nimwit would think "girls like pink - marketing for women done, off to the pub".

Thing is that what appeals to men and women is sleek and cool, without being overly complicated. Yes, probably most of the people that read this site like complicated - but your average consumer does not.

For example digital cameras that take pictures by pushing one button. No fancy aperture stuff, non-camera folks like myself need one setting - auto, and no more than a simple, but effective, optical zoom. It should fit in a pocket, take nice pictures, and look good - job done. Now for the camera elite, fill those babies up with whatever you need and want - but for the mass consumer, 3 buttons is probably too many (unfortunately you probably can't get away with less).

Look I know what women like, I tricked one into marrying me for gods sake, and it's the same thing as men when it comes to gizmos and gadgets. All you need to do is a/ask a couple of women what they would like simplified and b/replace the smug bastards behind the sales counters with ordinary people. The smug bastards aren't being sexist, they're just being smug bastards. They do that to everyone.

You then make the gadget or gizmo and get someone from Apple to make it look cool. Just make sure it doesn't have fiddly bits that fall off and I think you'll be good.

[skeptical i]

one grrrl's opinion

In my experience, things designed "for women" tend to be of shoddy quality and marketed with a condescending tone; sadly, most of these things were pink, spangly, or otherwise screamed "this is not a serious (tool | firearm | piece of clothing)" and my reflex has been to run far and fast from anything pastel, pink, or "for women". If we've come such a long way, baby, that pink is just another color for any gender user, that's fabbo, but I'll have to see it to believe it.

[Christine]

Title

lol, autofill, don't post from my gf's laptop methinks.

Chris.

[Anonymous Coward]

Get off your arses...

...and design it yourselves if the male designed tech isn't what you want.

Except, if you want the same from technology that men want, then all that tech that you're complaining is designed for men is designed for YOU as well - it ain't rocket science, love. Unless you're just bitching about not having a Brad Pitt screen saver pre-installed.

Secondly, anyone who asks the mouth-breathers staffing an electronics retailer for anything other than stocking levels *deserves* to be talked down to - you wouldn't ask a hospital porter to perform your heart bypass operation.

[Tricia Pulley]

I love my girly gadgets.

I guess I'm in the 9% of women who love my gadgets to sparkle. I have a pink Razr phone with matching pink case and even my car charger is pink. I was aghast that my Blue Tooth headset, cables and such were black - if they're selling a package it should all match, after all.

Truth be told, I'd rather have purple than pink, but pink and silver gray were the only choices at the Verizon store for the Razr phone I wanted. It's not the pink that matters - it's getting a nice bright color that appeals to me. Anybody can have a gray or black cell phone - big whoop. My husband wanted the lime green Chocolate phone but they were out so he got the black.

I love the pink laptop & would buy one! The jewel-encrusted shower head, maybe not.

And by the way what is up with people in Europe not wearing deodorant or shaving their legs? When I was there these things were painfully obvious... eeuw!

[Neil Young]

How about a nice red...?

...surely there's an eye-catching unisex colour. I personally can't be done with bright colours of any hue, except maybe red and really don't get why women need gadgets designed specifically for them - as if a pink phone/laptop/games console is for women while others are MAN'S stuff and girlies shouldn't worry they're pretty little heads about them...!

But how about just designing it well and think about the colour afterwards? (while making it black, grey or silver by default)

In all, women like gear, just like us blokes, GIRLS like pink.

[Barbara]

I LOVE PNK!!!! BRING IT ON!!!!!!!!!!!

I love anything pink...but I am a true gagdget freak and it it comes it in pink I check it out. Last Christmas I wanted the new Sony Cybershot T-10 and it came in metallic pink for $100 extra...made my husband pay the $100 extra. One, it stands out and people notice, Two, I like PINK, Three, it is the same great camera but in a much better color...people say "Where did you get a PINK camera?'

I would get a PINK laptop if I needed a new laptop. I would have gotten an iphone, if it came in PINK and had a replaceable battery...how stupid is that decision! Have an AT&T 8525 and I would be happier if it was in PINK. My daughter has a PINK ipod, PINK RAZR, PINK rhinestone encrusted earbuds, PINK Nintendo DS...PINK is cool...and shows you can like good gadgets but no want to be boring like gray or black! To me the more Bling the better. Have my Dolce and Gabanna Phone in gold just to wear out for special occasions!!...Of course, it is not PINK...but shiny gold is a good alternative.

And whoever thinks gender doesn't make a difference in customer service must go to the one store that has a man who knows what he is talking about. I did have to buy my phone over the internet because I couldn't get a single store salesMAN to discuss phones with me or specs or anything technical. I think it is they don't know squat to begin with. But I do my research on everything I purchase and expect to have an intelligent conversation...but it just doesn't happen in a store. I believe they are programmed to see women and think STUPID!..I realize I am not a 20 year old hot babe anymore...so I really have nothing to offer them but a sale...but it would be nice to be given the time of day and discuss what products they have to meet your needs. It is the same with phone tech support. They are so shocked as a female you know where the START button is on the computer!!

So I love PINK, I love buying PINK things...I hope they come out with a PINK iphone...maybe I would ignore they shortcomings...probably not...but I like to buy PINK things...So I hope they keep making more PINK...but it still has to work right and be what I need!!

[Anonymous Coward]

RE: The geeks in tech shops.

Judging from all the ones I have met in our local electricals/electronics outlets most are not 'geeks', or 'nerds', or even 'techies' - they are 'sales-staff' who just happen to be selling technology. They would be acting just the same if they were selling fruit and vegetables from a cart.

[Neil Young]

Barbara likes pink eh...?

Enough to (get her husband - the poor bloke - to) pay *extra* for it?!

Usually what I find is the gadget I want in pink and pink ONLY and the nearest non-pink equivalent is more expensive (although with slightly more features or with a better known make)

Incidentally, something I actually heard today in the T-Mobile shop...

Woman (pointing to a Samsung M300): "Eeeh! Is this available on a contract?"

Salesman: "Errr... no, it's pay as you go only, it's a very basic phone, no Bluetooth, VGA camera..."

Woman: "Awww, but it's sooo cute!"

[Anonymous Coward]

At first I was surprised at all these comments on colour and no mention of Dell ...

... then I remembered why.

Everyone is still waiting for them to be delivered. The official line is the delay is caused by the paint colour.

Have a look at all the lovely colours on their site. Don't - whatever you do - order one.

[yargnad]

@ Dana W

You missed quite a few actually. Every model of the iPod until the newest Nano and the touch model has been available in some shade of pink, some less saturated than others. I know this because I have seen them in my local Apple store(dont hate me for having actually been in one). Maybe your local Apple store has sold out of pink hence the absence of them from the shelves. Apple is very trendy and therefore many colors are replaced in every generation. This mostly ensures that you will want to buy another iPod and is why Apple rules at reselling the same item, slighly improved(or maybe just a new color) to the same sogging idiot time and time again. Make sure you know before you post again, and look the fool thrice.