Posted By: siobhanster on
I know it's a pet peeve of mine, and I know not everybody shares it. But it really drives me crazy when gadget-makers slap a pink case or cover onto something in order to declare it "female-friendly." The latest and most obviously annoying example of this trend, for me, has got to be the pink Taser:
This thing is all over the "product watch" blogs -- somebody in Taser's PR department is doing their job -- and I'm feeling growly about it.
Why does "pink" equal "suddenly something my mom can use" in these people's heads? Why is that considered the best way to make a gadget attract the attention of us fickle females?
How about making gadgets that are actually easy to network, writing instruction manuals human beings can actually understand, and training salespeople to actually talk about the darn things in real-life terms -- "this one's great because there are only a couple of buttons to deal with" as opposed to "this one's totally got a humongous processor."
Most women I know don't buy stuff because it's pink, but because it solves a problem for them. This is why I love (and trust) CMErin's writing on the Gadget Freaks group blog. Girlfriend knows whereof she speaks.
The NY Times published a trend piece about this very issue recently, and I was relieved to hear that some electronics companies are taking steps to address this pet peeve of mine. It's always gratifying when you're stopped mid-rant by a calm voice saying very quietly, "Um, you know we're halfway done fixing that, right?"
In the meantime, I'm interested to hear whether this bothers anybody else. Thoughts? Remarks? Rejoinders?
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