Being a girl and being into gadgets sometimes throws up images, for some people, of being into gadgets that look girly like pink cameras and pink mobile phones with fluffy charms hanging off them. That couldn’t be further from the truth, for me at least.
I remember a couple of years ago I was looking around for a new mobile phone. While I was on the o2 website I saw a pink Samsung phone which was totally designed for women. It had all kinds of calculators which would let you know when you were at your most fertile, what colour shoes would go with your new bag, when you had PMS*, whether you are pregnant and even tell you you’re overweight*! I couldn’t help but laugh at this silly device which wanted just too much information on my bodily functions but worse than that has the gall to tell me I’m fat. I think it also made phone calls but that was neglected to be mentioned in the long list of everything else it wanted to do for you.
I love gadgets, but I also like gadgets to look professional - black or silver is my choice always. I have a silver mobile phone (soon to be a black iPhone when o2 online get them back in stock) and black digital camera which looks very professional. No overly pink and girly gadgets in my home. My body clock is also my own business, not my phones! I also don’t want an app for my iPod which tells me…
…how long your periods really last, how much exercise are you getting, etc. No matter what your stage in life, Lady Biz is something every woman can use. Lady Biz keeps track of the following items: Breast tenderness, Cramps, Exercise, Intercourse, Notes, OB/GYN checkup, Period, Pregnancy test, Sick, Sleep, Stress, Waking temperature, Vitamins, Weight.
Would anyone really pay £8.99, for that? I think I’ll stick to the tried and tested method of a (free) calendar, although I really don’t think it’s necessary to become obsessed with everything including Waking temperature??
Any other female geeks out there into the professional look rather than the often cheap and tacky look of everything PINK and FLUFFY as soon as a girls gadget is mentioned?
* My husband will do that for free!
07 Aug 08
3:24 pm
I completely agree! I want the same stuff as guy gadgets, for the most part - and I totally agree on black or silver (except in the case of my MacBook - I wan’t about to pay an extra £100 or so for black lacquer!).
I want a phone that makes phone calls, sends texts, takes good photos (so I don’t have to cart my SLR around with me) and does t’Internet. I don’t need a calorie counter on my phone - I have enough problems trying to remember to twitter and update brightkite, never mind input the calorie content of everything I eat as well.
07 Aug 08
4:53 pm
I too saw that app in the new iPhone apps feed and thought it was a bit odd.
07 Aug 08
11:42 pm
It does ask for a little too much information and I agree with the fact that every girl I know (allbeit they’re all a bit geeky) never seem to go for the glitz or the pink.
But that app made me think how simple an app it would be for guys. Q: Are you alive? A: Yep. Q: Everything still attatched? A: Yep.
07 Aug 08
11:59 pm
“But that app made me think how simple an app it would be for guys.”
Mine would be
Keys? Y/N
Wallet? Y/N
Phone? Y/N
08 Aug 08
6:00 pm
Katie: Haha, exactly. There may be girls out there who want to make a note of EVERYTHING they eat/drink/put into their bodies (!), but I haven’t met one yet.
Craig: Of the Geeky Girls I have spoken to, they all agree that glitzy pink gadgets are a no-no.
Matthew: Haha, that sounds about right
You guys need to make a simple app like that for men and charge $999 for it. I’m sure some suckers would buy it http://gizmodo.com/5034701/confirmed-eight-morons-bought-the-999-i-am-rich-iphone-application
31 Aug 08
4:43 pm
I agree, pink gadgets for me are a no-no too. Just cos I’m a female does not mean I want my gadgets to shout it! (in case the rest of me hadn’t actually alerted anyone to the fact that I’m a girl)
My younger sister on the other hand - who sadly has all the intelligence of a gnat with ADD - LOVES pink gadgets. ANYTHING pink. Granted, she doesn’t actually know how to work my iPhone (seriously) and anything other than a normal mobile phone will confuse her, but she has a pink Samsung phone (with little diamante charms dangling from it - yuk!), a pink Nintendo DS (that I had to show her several times how to operate - how hard could it be??!!) and said if Apple made a pink iPhone she’d want one immediately.
I said if Apple went ahead and made a pink iPhone, I’ve fly over to California myself and hit Steve Jobs over the head with it. ;-p
31 Aug 08
5:33 pm
HAHA! Yeah, don’t be giving us pink iPhones, Uncle Steve.
My sister-in-law used to have a bright pink Motorola Razr mobile phone which I hated because at the time everyone else had one. The pink just made it look like a kids cheap toy. Now she has a “grown up” phone and I respect her far more now
Gadgets which look gimmicky just don’t appeal to me at all. Professional behaving gadgets need to look like professional gadgets. The only pink gadget I own is a USB pig radio