To Appeal to Women, Too, Gadgets Go Beyond ‘Cute’ and ‘Pink’

The NY Times has an interesting piece on how the technology marketplace is coming of age for women too.

Not only pink GSM, but stylish-friendly LCD Tvs and stealth hi-fi speakers.

Some producers such as Energizer go as far as making separate models for men and women:

The Dock & Go, at $33, is aimed at men. Black and gray with shiny trim, the two pods hold up to four batteries each (AA or AAA). A light glows red when it is charging, yellow when it is charged.



The second device, the $20 Easy Charger, is aimed at women, who usually end up managing the household’s batteries. This charger is flat, round and sold with interchangeable faceplates in silver, black and eggshell that help it blend in with kitchen appliances. Large light-emitting-diode readouts spell out what the countertop charger is doing at every phase of the charging cycle. Focus-group testing indicated that men were turned off by the Easy Charger, especially in how its readouts appeared to tell them what they thought they already knew, said Mandy Iswarienko, the brand manger for rechargeable products.

“We found that how people use chargers is very different,” she said. “For her, she wants it to be instantly understandable.”

What can I say? I'm amazed, since some years ago I witnessed the opposite phenomenon, with washing machines finally built with dials and settings easily understandable by men.