Comment I believe it... (Score 1) 645
I believe that women are buying more tech than they used to... and no, it's not the things that go buzz in the night.
Consider:
- in 1985 you could get at Radio Shack: Parts for your stereo system, electronics kits, RC toys, and the TRS-80 ("Trash 80"), which was not compatable with the PC, the Commodore 64, or the Apple II+; and like the other machines, had completely proprietary software that appealed to geeks.
- in 1985, if you owned a computer, you were probably a hacker in training, or a hobbyist using the ports to control electronic software.
- if you were organizing your schedule, you did it with the Day Timer, which conviently gave you a two month trial kit to get you hooked.
- you made calls from home or work, on a corded telephone after picking up your messages from a machine with a tape which you had to replace occasionally... from Radio Shack.
So, today at Radio Shack, you can buy a cell phone, a surround-sound system that will plug into your DVD player, satillite radio, a palm-sized computer that will track your schedule, a computer that is fully compatable with the Wintel standard, and software that will let you run and entire office, whether at home or work. In other words, you no longer have to be a geek to use (and enjoy) technology.
I think then, it makes sense that fewer women are turning the chore of buying technology over to men in their lives. And non-geek men no longer have to pretend they're geeks to buy technology.
I also believe that it's true that tech companies sell more when they display tech that's integrated into a real life... I don't want a tv that goes in my kitchen, but I'm very interested in flatscreens. Why? So I don't have to hire movers for the TV next time I move.
Consider:
- in 1985 you could get at Radio Shack: Parts for your stereo system, electronics kits, RC toys, and the TRS-80 ("Trash 80"), which was not compatable with the PC, the Commodore 64, or the Apple II+; and like the other machines, had completely proprietary software that appealed to geeks.
- in 1985, if you owned a computer, you were probably a hacker in training, or a hobbyist using the ports to control electronic software.
- if you were organizing your schedule, you did it with the Day Timer, which conviently gave you a two month trial kit to get you hooked.
- you made calls from home or work, on a corded telephone after picking up your messages from a machine with a tape which you had to replace occasionally... from Radio Shack.
So, today at Radio Shack, you can buy a cell phone, a surround-sound system that will plug into your DVD player, satillite radio, a palm-sized computer that will track your schedule, a computer that is fully compatable with the Wintel standard, and software that will let you run and entire office, whether at home or work. In other words, you no longer have to be a geek to use (and enjoy) technology.
I think then, it makes sense that fewer women are turning the chore of buying technology over to men in their lives. And non-geek men no longer have to pretend they're geeks to buy technology.
I also believe that it's true that tech companies sell more when they display tech that's integrated into a real life... I don't want a tv that goes in my kitchen, but I'm very interested in flatscreens. Why? So I don't have to hire movers for the TV next time I move.
