I don't see Sony coming out with an alternate brand called Sonya, so why did Dell feel inclined to do it?

Actually — I love the smaller keyboard on my Eee 701 series (the tactile feedback/responsiveness leaves something to be desired)… And I suppose my only beef with the pink varieties of any electronic device is suddenly it's “woman friendly!” (The Verizon rep gave me an off look when I responded to the “Do you want a pink Blackberry?” with “I want the one that looks like a real phone, thanks.”) So no real issues with pink gadgets except that it seems to be, “Look, it's for ladies!” Would the Verizon rep offer (or look oddly) if a guy wanted a pink phone for himself?

I think a lot of women who aren't technically inclined would find a lot to like about netbooks for the reasons you've mentioned, and it shouldn't at all be a hard sell — but Dell seriously just made it infinitely more of a challenge for themselves.

I asked Brad, and he's okay (as the publisher) with me submitting this to Feministing. We both thank you for the suggestion.

Kristin

I get the feeling that a women's writer – probably for a fashion mag – may have helped them out. Mainstream young women's magazines seem to like the cutesy-punny tone in almost everything they write about. I read one article in a teen one once where they kept referring to their petite participant as “teeny” and “a pixie”. Belittling much?

OK, I get marketing netbooks to women. We're less likely to complain about keyboard size, and we're already lugging around so much stuff that anything to help lighten the load is appreciated. However, the other laptops they're advertising (chosen solely on the basis of colour customisation, of course) are all 15.6″+ beasts that I would never look at twice due to how heavy they'd be! “It's totally cute, you can change it” really does seem to be the main, insipid message of the site.

Kristin – any chance you can send this article to Feministing as well? They would rip this ridiculous site APART.

Why would anyone use a piece of paper for a grocery list? Why wouldn't you use technology to help you focus on clearing your mind of material thoughts and worries? Valid questions, but these people are too jaded to answer them or even be bothered.

The ones who are offended and yet still make the purchase are only validating the marketing. So this is obviously much to do about nothing.

I say buy it or don't. But don't whine if you're still willing to buy.

J

:::retreats to flame-proof bunker:::

(Having a bit of a Twilight Zone moment after having had a lengthy “monkey king” discussion with family members this weekend — no kidding)

That's a really good point you make, actually, and an interesting parallel with women's magazine publishers. I think that if it is the case, Dell might find it's a lot more effective in publishing (where revenue is often generated more by advertisers and sponsors than subscriptions or actual “product sales”). Although it's an interesting observation that the site does sort of treat the Inspiron like a continually updating magazine (at least there's no noxious perfume odor — I believe ASUS tried that, actually, but we see how far that went).

It would be interesting to see what (if any, I imagine there HAD to be) focus groups were used when launching and designing the whole Della campaign — and what that feedback was (and if it was even taken into consideration). There are, of course, a lot of women (and men) interested in cooking, fitness, and organizing their schedules, and while it's not an inherently bad thing to mention, the delivery and presentation didn't need to feel quite so condescending and — vacant.

The idea of building a female-oriented discussion site and community around the Inspiron isn't a bad one, but the execution's going to be a turn off to women (techie or no) who are interested in picking one up. They might still purchase one, but the site's presence isn't going to be a real factor in that decision.

See that's the scary part. There is every reason to believe that women marketing experts at Dell see other women consumers as a bunch of dopes. Marketing people hold 'everyone' in contempt, gender be damed. Ever notice Vogue, Elle, and other fashion magazibnes have mostly female staffs, that doesn't stop them from peddleing garbage to other women.