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Tech Replaces Diamonds As Girl's Best Friend

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wed Aug 02, 2006 02:34 AM
from the dog-still-man's-best-friend dept.
Technology News
Ant writes to tell us that 'diamonds are no longer a girls best friend', at least according to a recent study commissioned by the Oxygen Network. From the article: "The survey, commissioned by U.S. cable television's Oxygen Network that is owned and operated by women, found the technology gender gap has virtually closed with the majority of women snapping up new technology and using it easily. Women were found on average to own 6.6 technology devices while men own 6.9, and four out of every five women felt comfortable using technology with 46 percent doing their own computer trouble-shooting."
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  • Great, just great... (Score:5, Funny)

    by allanj (151784) on Wednesday August 02 2006, @02:39AM (#15830095)
    with 46 percent doing their own computer trouble-shooting
    In my book, this means that 46 percent of the women we'll never have a chance of doing a favorable impression on. Not much of a chance to begin with, but now - no chance!

  • That can't be right (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Umbral Blot (737704) on Wednesday August 02 2006, @02:40AM (#15830100) Homepage
    I don't even think 46% of men do their own computer trouble shooting.

    • One possibility... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Chmcginn (201645) <agburanar@nOsPam.gmail.com> on Wednesday August 02 2006, @02:43AM (#15830111) Journal
      Depending on how the question was phrased, it may have said something like "attempt" or "try", instead of "successful complete a troubleshooting task." I hate seeing results to a survey without seeing the survey, personally, for this exact reason.
      [ Parent ]

      • As someone who spent time in tech support... (Score:5, Funny)

        by Opportunist (166417) on Wednesday August 02 2006, @02:46AM (#15830122)
        I can say that about 100% of the male population try to solve their own computer related problems, with about 20% solving them, 20% not solving them and 60% making them worse. And those 60% being a VERY conservative estimate.
        [ Parent ]

          • Re:As someone who spent time in tech support... (Score:5, Insightful)

            by Opportunist (166417) on Wednesday August 02 2006, @02:57AM (#15830152)
            After a while in support you learn that "nothing" is the second most used lie right after "the check's in the mail". If the caller is male, you may safely assume that he DID try to fix the problem and the fact that he still called you means that he DID make it worse, and that pretty much every possible setting has been twiddled and is now at some completely random value.
            [ Parent ]

  • Warning (Score:5, Funny)

    by Atario (673917) on Wednesday August 02 2006, @02:43AM (#15830110) Homepage
    First joker to ask if one of those women's "technology devices" is waterproof and vibratory gets...um...well, modded heavily, probably.

      • Re:Warning (Score:5, Funny)

        by RsG (809189) on Wednesday August 02 2006, @03:32AM (#15830250)
        Also, does it play MP3's?
        The Apple brand ones do. However, the "nano" varient hasn't been a huge success.

        The Microsoft version is larger, but there have been complaints about the power adapter and USB port getting in the way, and not being adequatly waterproofed. The Sony ones seem to have problems with DRM screwing the user (and not in the good way)... :-)
        [ Parent ]

        • Re:Warning (Score:3, Funny)

          by Ohreally_factor (593551)
          So, you're saying that Sony has managed to get root to my girlfriend's box? Damn! I knew we should have been using condoms!

  • Questionable statistic... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by dark_requiem (806308) on Wednesday August 02 2006, @02:44AM (#15830113)
    with 46 percent doing their own computer trouble-shooting.

    Based on personal experience, I can't imagine this is accurate. I seriously doubt that 46 percent of women or men do their own computer troubleshooting and repair. I can honestly say that most of the people I know own computers, and far less than 46 percent are anywhere near capable or knowledgable of even basic troubleshooting and repair tasks. I expect many /.ers have had a similar experience. The average computer user doesn't even know how to update their drivers. Hell, the average user doesn't even know what a driver is.

    Besides, who conducts a survey comparing the preferences of men and women with a sample set of one group (men, in this case) half the size of the other. While I am by no means a statistician, it seems to me that you would use equaly sized data samples, or at least weight the sample sizes based on the percentage of the population as a whole. Based on my luck recently, I'm quite certain there are not twice as many women as men in this country.

    • Re:Questionable statistic... (Score:5, Funny)

      by kfg (145172) * on Wednesday August 02 2006, @03:00AM (#15830165)
      Besides, who conducts a survey comparing the preferences of men and women with a sample set of one group (men, in this case) half the size of the other.

      Someone who thinks that instant messaging is a "tech area"?

      KFG
      [ Parent ]

    • Re:Questionable statistic... (Score:3, Informative)

      by zalle (637380)
      Statistical inference is not dependent on the "size" of the sample space - it is equally valid to infer things from data that may get values from an infinite, uncountable set as it is to do similar inferences from a population that only has 3 possible valu

  • NICE!! (Score:3, Funny)

    by brunokummel (664267) on Wednesday August 02 2006, @02:46AM (#15830120) Journal
    Does that mean then that I should buy a palmtop instead of a diamond ring to my girlfriend when we decide to get married?
    I'm pretty sure that I'll enjoy the present as well! Not to mention that it's way more useful than a ring unless, of course we're talking about this ring [thinkgeek.com]

  • Whole Devices (Score:5, Funny)

    by Redwin (805980) on Wednesday August 02 2006, @02:46AM (#15830121)
    "Women were found on average to own 6.6 technology devices while men own 6.9"

    The men assured the women that it will be 7 technology devices soon, but they just need to tinker with a couple of parts in the last device and that they are certain they are supposed to come apart its just that the device is being a bit stubborn...

  • hmm (Score:4, Funny)

    by Fusione (980444) on Wednesday August 02 2006, @02:47AM (#15830124)
    I wonder how many slashdotters are gonna show this to their girlfriends the next time they ask fo- oh wait.. nevermind. I forgot where I was for a moment. :P

  • Warning, sexism coming your way (Score:4, Funny)

    by Opportunist (166417) on Wednesday August 02 2006, @02:49AM (#15830131)
    Hmm... 6.6 devices on average. In other words: cellphone, cellphone, ladyshaver, vaccuum cleaner, can opener, erhm... personal vibratory relaxation helper and a car that spends 40% of its time in the garage for repairs 'cause she can't figure out how to drive stick without ruining the transmission.

  • Troubleshooting? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by crull (221987) on Wednesday August 02 2006, @02:51AM (#15830136) Homepage
    What kind of troubleshooting? Troubleshooting can be a pretty much anything from, "I can't seem to find the zoom button" to "Why doesn't this daemon function properly".

    Of all the women I know exactly one do their own troubleshooting. And don't say things like, "You're a geek, maybe you know two women, your mom and sister, and the latter does her own troubleshooting".

    46% just sounds a lot if it's not very basic troubleshooting. I don't even think 46% of the men is doing his own troubleshooting.

  • But when will he...? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 02 2006, @02:51AM (#15830138)
    Okay, so how do I get my boyfriend to buy me that big shiny engagement beowulf cluster I've always dreamed of?

  • Well, of course (Score:5, Informative)

    by 9x320 (987156) on Wednesday August 02 2006, @02:52AM (#15830139)
    If you had watched that special on The History Channel's Modern Marvels about the history of diamond mining, you'd know that diamonds are valuable because of the De Beers mining company obtaining a monopoly on diamond mining by gradually buying out and merging with all the other diamond companies in South Africa, and gradually the world. They then instituted a propaganda campaign in order to get couples to buy the diamonds, while releasing only a set number of diamonds every year, thus keeping demand artificially high.

    Their monopoly was threatened by the Soviet Union finding diamonds in modern Russia. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, De Beers bought out nearly all the diamonds that had fallen into the hands of former Soviet countries. In the 21st century they are threatened by a Canadian diamond company founded by a Canadian geologist once thought to be crazy for suspecting the presence of diamonds in Northwest Canada.

    They were finally fined $5 million by the Department of Justice with their monopolistic tactics, but obviously that's like the EU fining Microsoft. I think people are finally waking up and smelling the coffee, realizing that these gems are merely worthless shiny rocks, though the advent of artificial diamonds doesn't hurt.

    Here, Wikipedia has an entry. [wikipedia.org]

  • I'd take a healthy dash of doubt on those numbers (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Moridin42 (219670) on Wednesday August 02 2006, @02:52AM (#15830141)
    The article also reports:

    The study found over the next five years women see themselves increasing their activities in six tech areas: digital cameras, cell phones, e-mail, camera phones, text messaging and instant messaging.


    I'll grant you that not everybody is proficient with these devices/apps. But pushing shutter releases and send buttons does not make one tech savvy. Man or woman.

    I also wonder where they draw the line for 'technology devices'. Since everything from forks to keys to credit cards to laptops is technology. Just not all of it is recent.

    And lastly.. does the thought "well, I rebooted Windows and everything worked fine" count as "computer trouble-shooting" ?
      • It doesn't really matter how you categorize.

        My point wasn't to say "ooooh. lookit the women who think they're technophiles but aren't!"
        My point was to more say "using the ubiquitous tools of the day isn't particularly noteworthy."

        The AC above was pretty cl

  • Girls prefer tech huh? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Aphrika (756248) on Wednesday August 02 2006, @02:54AM (#15830146)
    'diamonds are no longer a girls best friend', at least according to a recent study commissioned by the Oxygen Network.
    I wonder how the results would have panned out if the survey was done by Tiffany and Co. [tiffany.com]...

  • Yeah right! (warning...on-topic rant!) (Score:5, Funny)

    by Lissajous (989738) on Wednesday August 02 2006, @02:58AM (#15830158)
    [rant]
    They obviously didn't ask *my* SOH. Here I sit in front of 5 TFT monitors, 3 computers, hi-def projector, a plethora of consoles, and is she content with that? No! She still wants the diamonds! I mean - seriously! Where did they get these mythical women from? Shoes?! Don't even get me started on shoes! Have you seen our shoe closet? It's applying for its own post code next month. You can see it from Google Earth. And TFA wants me to believe that women would choose to have tech *instead* of holidays, shoes, gems? I call foul, I tell you - FOUL! They want the lot! Tech and shoes. Shoes and tech. Techy shoes would have my grrl in a shopping frenzy. Ohgodohgodohgodohgod can you imagine? The horror! THE HORROR!!!!! (5 exclamation marks, the sure sign of an insane mind)
    *ahem*
    [/rant]

    • Re:Yeah right! (warning...on-topic rant!) (Score:4, Funny)

      by cruachan (113813) on Wednesday August 02 2006, @04:44AM (#15830426)
      Yeah love to know where the shoe thing comes from. Starts young though, when the whole family went on holiday this year - travelling around europe and carrying stuff in backpacks - my 12 year old daughter was told to she could only take two pairs of shoes in addition to the ones she was wearing. Also as the youngest she had a smaller pack and the rest of us would each carry some of her stuff.

      It was only after a several days out we figured that she'd managed to pring 9 pairs, having individually talked the me, my wife and my son into carrying her 'extra two pairs'.
      [ Parent ]

  • Early Adopters.. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by tktk (540564) on Wednesday August 02 2006, @02:59AM (#15830161)
    In my mind, that .3 difference is probably due to males being early adopters. My 2 sisters and I have basically the same gadgets but they lag behind a bit. We've all gotten iPods, laptops, bluetooth headsets, Tivos, & etc.

    I got a Tivo 5 years ago, one sister bought it 2 years ago, and the youngest is probably going to buy one before she heads off to college this fall.

    Once in a while, I'll catch my youngest sister talking on her phone to her boyfriend about WOW and be embarrassed for them. A nice change for once.

  • My Observations (Score:3, Insightful)

    by miyako (632510) <miyako.gmail@com> on Wednesday August 02 2006, @03:12AM (#15830194) Homepage Journal
    I have a few observations on the subject. I think that the first thing that immediately lept to mind has also been the prevailing comment so far, and that is that 46% seems awfully high for men or women for doing troubleshooting, unless you count troubleshooting as saying "hmm, something's wrong.".
    That aside, it seems to me that women have a higher average technological competency than men, speaking in general terms, however there also seems to be a smaller standard deviation. Of the men I know, most seem to be either geeks or luddites. Most of the men I know have only very recently started considering using cell phones (many men I know don't own one), and very rarely, if every, use a computer. On the other hand, I know very few female geeks, but I also can't think of any female luddites. Most women I know were early adopters of cell phones, and most women I know use the computer more than men, and for more versatile tasks (e.g. I know a lot of men who literally never use the computer for anything except ebay, most women I know use the computer for the web as well as email, IM, iTunes, photos, etc.).
    Of course the survey contradicts my own observations, but I also think terms like "technology gadgets" are extemely vauge. In my experience, women are generally early adopters of technologies that enable creativity and communication (cell phones, IM, scanners, photo editing software, etc.) whereas men tend to be early adopters of technology that is primarily entertainment (dvd players, video games, etc.).

  • eh... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Rooked_One (591287) on Wednesday August 02 2006, @03:20AM (#15830219) Journal
    the age group seems a little biased.... there are just as many (if not more) women that are over the age of 49 than under - probably..... But I bet the curve of this is really scewed to the 15 year old side... My mother falls right in the eldest of the group, and while she is comfortable with computers, she can bearly troubleshoot and would take a diamond ring over a TV anyday - but then again she is a teacher that doesn't watch much TV.

  • Social Commentary (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Niet3sche (534663) on Wednesday August 02 2006, @03:35AM (#15830260)

    I'm curious. I seriously wonder if this, too, will be used as evidence to support that men and women are more different than alike (philosophically speaking, note).

    Here's my prediction: The current status quo tends towards women not being adopters, purveyors, or masters of technology. While there are certainly pockets of discourse and space that argue against this, I would suggest this story is more widespread than its alternative (e.g. "women are technologically-savvy"). I have to wonder at what point the evidence for the realization that there is more intra-group variability than extra-group variability between the sexes will become wholly overwhelming and force a change in the commonplace "line" on women in/and technology.

    I promised a prediction - here it is.

    When the above assertion becomes commonly accepted, so too will the notion that women are fully able and capable of using, enjoying, and mastering technology. However, we will supplant the current story with a new one - "Women are using technology as wholly a surrogate for that which they do best - that 'social stuff'."

    I should blog on this, but it's late. Thoughts? Am I way off-topic here?

  • Oh... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Doc Ruby (173196) on Wednesday August 02 2006, @03:41AM (#15830273) Homepage Journal
    Ever since mobile phones started to vibrate, the gender gap has been more filled.

  • I am a woman who loves technology and hates shoes (Score:4, Interesting)

    by AriaStar (964558) on Wednesday August 02 2006, @04:46AM (#15830427) Journal
    What the hell is it with this assumption to all women love shoes? Shoe-shopping gives me hives. I am a 25-year-old analytical engineer specializing in e-mail security, and eyes bug out when that's said. Why? Why assume women are technologically inferior? Why assume that tech is a man's field? Sure, there's this smug sense of doing something that sounds cool that a lot of women aren't doing, but it would sure be nice if it weren't greeted with a sense of disbelief, if more women weren't so intimidated.

    This articles makes women out to be a bunch of fashion whores who are shocking people by wanting tech items. A weekend vacation in Florida is over in a weekend. That diamond necklace will only be worn on special occassionas (unless given by someone special, in which case I'd never take it off, as I never take off my pearl necklace except to shower). Why take the designer shoes over a pricey camera when knock-offs of those shoes can be had for $20? That plasma TV would be great for picking up the details in every outfit on Sex and the City. *sense the sarcasm*

    Yet a plasma TV hardly counts for tech in my book. Why is an LCD TV not considered tech? Because they are hardly more than appliances. You want to fix a TV, you take it to an appliance repair person. Would this TV be considered a technological item if this study were done with men? Or would it be done with an item that requires more knowledge than how to press some buttons on a remote to change the channel?

    Do this study with a MacBook and give women a little more credit than as mindless whores only concerned about where they shoes are Jimmy Choo or whatever. Then maybe more of us wouldn't be afraid of entering the domain of men.

    Who am I kidding? I love being a woman in a man's world.
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