Slashdot Mirror
Tech Replaces Diamonds As Girl's Best Friend
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."
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!
Black holes are where God divided by zero
I don't even think 46% of men do their own computer trouble shooting.
Philosophy.
The only troubleshooting women in my life do with their computers is spamming me for help, and I'm not sure that counts.
First joker to ask if one of those women's "technology devices" is waterproof and vibratory gets...um...well, modded heavily, probably.
"A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
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.
Have you been touched by his noodly appendage?
with 46 percent doing their own computer trouble-shooting.
/.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.
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
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.
>with 46 percent doing their own computer trouble-shooting.
Using my own data :
- 90% of my friends/family just drop me call
The results seem flawed
The other 20% of women live in my neck of the woods.
-uso.
What you hear in the ear, preach from the rooftop Matthew 10.27b
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
What is best in life? To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you and to hear the lamentations of their women.
"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...
Warning, comments may not have been passed by the sanity department of my brain.
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.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
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
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.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
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."
Exactly what does this trouble-shooting mean? Downlaod patch, double-click, install, Say your prayers and Reboot?
Back in the Unix days, it used take Real Men (TM) to troubleshoot a computer!
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
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.
this is not my signature.
Okay, so how do I get my boyfriend to buy me that big shiny engagement beowulf cluster I've always dreamed of?
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.
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" ?
I don't expect morality, equality, consistency, or justice from the law. I expect only legality.
there is a joke in there waiting to come out, about men, women and 6.9...
hmmmm.
The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it. -- G.B. Shaw
Just wait a few months more... when all the lasses go in for the fancy, schmancy, kewl, cute, li'l stuff from Microsoft, you'll be busy Upgrading your Girlfriends to Linux. And it'll take a lifetime to sort out all those rpms, version conflicts, libraries, sockets etc. Enough time to develop your 'relationship', methinks!
Question is: How many Girlfriends can One Geek Man (TM) handle with his Linux expertise?
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
The respondents seem to be taken from viewers of the show "Girls Gone Wired", which gives you a hint as to what sort of demographics the show has. Perhaps "Girl geeks are just about as geeky as guy geeks" might have been a closer to the truth, but less catchy, headline.
I can't find a more detailed breakdown than the linked article to be sure, but it smells fishy.
I'd also love to know what the "technology devices" they counted were - an iPod, mobile phone, console, digi camera or even laptop are commonplace enough; I'd be impressed by GPSs, PDAs, and Linux boxes instead.
[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]
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.
Give it a break - just because women are now more into computers and IT stuff, it doesn't mean that a perfect present for my girlfriend's birthday would be a new hard drive.
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.).
Famous Last Words: "hmm...wikipedia says it's edible"
that this was taken from a technologically-literate sample population. It's equally safe to say that this is not the norm in the real world, so these numbers are going to be vastly biased. If 46% of women (or men)did their own troubleshooting, there'd be far less call for people like us (the IT techs and sysadmins of the world). I don't really care about the gender bias: in my book, users are users, so it's not a thing that I really notice per se. I honestly reckon that when people were interviewed for this, they said 'Oh yes, of course I can sort out my computer', purely because it makes them look better, just as most people fill out personals adverts saying they're slim to average build, when they're actually 240lb lardballs.
People lie to paint themselves in a better light. Nothing to see here.
http://xkcd.com/313/
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.
Is a pencil a technology device? How about a stapler, or a televison or a car? Extreme stupidity rules it seems.
What's the square root of 69?
8 something
Never again will I be able to pick up chicks in the computer lab...
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.
I should blog on this, but it's late. Thoughts? Am I way off-topic here?
In other news, the food gender gap has virtually closed with the majority of women making their own sandwitches and other types of food and actually eating it! Independent studies show that 10 out of 10 women do eat, meaning that females follow the same patterns of behavious as men.
The ability to use high-tech seems to be considered a measure of your human value - why? We're not supposed to be categorized into the technological aristocracy and the other people. Please, feminists, stop problematizing everything - you are just as valuable human beings even without winning (or entering) the competition for the longest time in fluorescence light or owning a WD Raptor or iPod.
As an afterthought, I fear the "Oxygen Network that is owned and operated by women" might be a bit biased in issues concerning women...
Troubleshooting? Next you'll tell me they can vote... and are interested in me.
Ever since mobile phones started to vibrate, the gender gap has been more filled.
--
make install -not war
So, all those "tech" areas include devices for taking pictures, talking, and combinations thereof. Women sure are expanding their interests these days...
- not IT compatible: managers, politicians, mentaly impaired etc i.e people that have others to do their jobs for them.
- tech savvy - they know computer when they see one, they know how to start IE, Outlook, MSWord, Excell and possibly even how to install software. Some of them even know some web basics and some of them even work in IT
:). This category includes also people driving modern cars which are a wonder of IT these days. Plane pilots too as they have a lots of video gaming to do while flying.
- geeks - people that for whatever reason know there are alternatives to predominant office suite/OS, in some rare contexts this may mean that they know how tu install linux etc. They also know that software can be rebooted to make things work better
:).
- emacs fanatics (coders?) - these are the ones that actually know why things do not work
- vi wizards (admins,hackers???) - they know why things do not work and more importantly how to make them work.
In the mind of the common folk two later categories do not really exist as they do not know what emacs/vi are. They call them geeks/hackers depending on weather and if they were mentioned within context of a public prosecution or just general IT. I attached the mentioned categories to certain editors but this is just my view - in reality they are broadly IT: professionals or kids that know things.BTW: being a hacker or admin or experienced user etc does not qualify you to be in any of above categories. The names chosen are arbitrary and serve only as an anchor for each category.
with 46 percent doing their own computer trouble-shooting...
... and failing miserably.
My wife is a cellular tech, and she's just as comfotable with technology as I am, if not more so. She uses our iPod more than I do, carries a Motorola SLVR, and can't wait to get a MacBook.
"The bad machine doesn't know he's a bad machine."
Does it mean forty six percent of women are ugly? The stats must be wrong.. it must be wrong.. I know many more ugly women than this!
I wouldn't despute that women use technology, but don't confuse that with an interest in technology. Most women I know use computers for e-mail, myspace, ordering flowers, etc.
Second, the fine print says women ages 15-49. Why not 15-99? Perhaps they wanted to distort the numbers to make it newsworthy.
Lastly, the study cannot imply anything about whether women actually like technology more than clothes. Perhaps they would prefer a digital camera to a pair of shoes because they have 200 shoes, and only a crappy disposable camera.
HRESULT WinAPIGetSystemProcessThreadMetricsMenu...
LibraryVolumeModuleHandlePtrEx(PHSPTMMLVM PHndl);
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.
It's a girl!
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 close. Young women are pretty well noted (deservedly or not) as talking a lot on the phone. But since now the phone is celluar, there is something new going on? There isn't. Or instead of loading the camera with film, its loaded with a card. Its still a camera, though. Maybe if you could show a shift in who the women were communicating with, it would be notable. Say, they're using IM and email as a primary method of finding new friends. Or if a demographic of women now have friends from demographics they previously didn't, thanks to email, IMs, whatever. If the science changes but the activies are basically the same, its my opinion that this is No Big Deal.
The factoids that might perhaps slightly be called "mildly surprising" would be the ones about preference for gadgets over jewelry, vacations, and shoes. But that depends on how the question was asked.
"Would you rather have a plasma tv or a diamond necklace?" is a very different question from "Would you rather recieve a plasma tv or a diamond necklace as a gift?" Similarly, asking "would you rather buy a digital camera or designer shoes?" is a different question from asking "if you could have a digital camera or designer shoes, which would it be?" One is asking which do you find to be a more valuable purchase on a finite budget, and the other asks, if money weren't a factor, what would you have? Yet either one could be put into a survey and then written about as "technology is what women want!" It wouldn't at all surprise me if women responded in favor of the gadgets to one type of question, as gadgets can be enjoyed frequently. The other type, however, may elicit responses from the same women in a different fashion as they imagine the rarer occassions when they want to really go all out. Times when the plasma tv doesn't go with you and the digital camera may be useful for taking pictures. But if you don't look good for the event, maybe you don't want that particular picture.
I don't expect morality, equality, consistency, or justice from the law. I expect only legality.
Good point, but in future remember that to qualify for sarcasm bonus-points on this forum you have to properly tag your sarcasm like a real nerd/nerdette:
<sarcasm>
Only to idiots, are orders laws.
-- Henning von Tresckow
Just though we should expand on the point estimates...
With a 99% confidence interval, 42.5 to 49.4% of women prefer doing their own computer trouble-shooting.
Additionally, With a 99% confidence interval, women prefer a new:
plasma TV to a diamond necklace, 74.1 to 79.9%
plasma TV over a weekend vacation in Florida, 52.6 to 59.4%
digital video camera to a pair of designer shoes, 83.6 to 88.4%
This is great! So much better than buying the S.O. a bowling ball for Christmas.
Life moves pretty fast; if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. -FB
I can see the funny. I can even see the troll. But insightful?
:)
But it's nice to see that I'm not the only sexist pig in the IT world.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
You are correct. I just updated my LiveJournal before posting and was still in the mindset of posting in such a way that the normal people on my friends list would understand it. Typically I make up my own tags. 'Tis fun.
You know, if I were to try tagging anything in this reply, I'd come off looking like a loser. You took the fun out of it.
It's a girl!
Hey, Slashdot took out my made-up code for a grin and put nothing in its place to indicate it was there! It was not meant to be read and tossed. Damn them. Ruined my night. Grrrrrrrrrr.....
It's a girl!
It's 2006. Why do 46% of anybody still have to troubleshoot computers? It says more about the state of the computer industry and Microsoft than anything else. By now, you'd think the only troubleshooting would be to see if it's turned on or not. I don't have to troubleshoot my television, telephone or toaster.
You are welcome on my lawn.
... I guess the only females I know are part of that 54%!!
I wonder if the women who claim to troubleshoot their own computers mean things like "it doesn't power on-- oh wait I forgot to press the power button!"
Ok I don't mean to be sexist here, but this seems like a very very flawed study. I'm sure the message may be true- that women are better at technology now-- but by no means even close to what the study suggest. The sample must be flawed. Of all the women I know in a bunch of countries, hell- continents-- no way would I consider them to be even close in terms of technological know-how. It's not about lack of skill- it's more about lack of interest. Just as men couldn't care less about shoe shopping. (well, typically...)
Bored?
everyone knows that women lie by hidding facts. they're proud of themselves
"so do you do try fixing your comp yourself?"
"oh yes sure i try"
now the missing part:
"i mean i click for a whole 15s then call and he fixes it"
also, they own usually 4 or 5 high end cellphones. that makes 90% of their 6.6 high tech devices. gg, play again !
ok, that was macho
Nerdy trivia.... type this in the /. comment:
<tag>...</tag>
to get this result:
<tag>...</tag>
Otherwise the comment parser will eat the tags.
Only to idiots, are orders laws.
-- Henning von Tresckow
A WHEEL. What innovative technology will they apply to shoes next!? This is so exciting and techy!!
What's the square root of 69?
8 something
8.30662386 to be precise, according to google calc
I know there is a joke inside there but as a non native American I could not catch it. So my first reaction was to copy/paste the question to Google and the humor insensitive search engine answered exactly what I was not looking for.
So, could anyone be so kind to tell me, what is the reason that everybody in the room I laughing out loud? I just imagine the scene =oP.
Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
Actually, I've seen one of these that could actually qualify as a "technology device" (in the sense that the article meant.) It's a small bluetooth-enabled vibrator--I shit you not--and it actually vibrates whenever your cell phone receives a call. I came THIS close to buying it for my girlfriend for our aniversary but I think it was like 250 pounds sterling (isn't released in the USA, apparently), which was a tad out of my price range at the time. Oh well, maybe next year...
. . . but I'm still going to buy my girl diamonds, rings, and necklaces as gifts. :P
I buy tech toys all the time, but the official gifts are the ones with high value, and low usability.
I mean, its like ingrained in our society that if you love your girl you hate your wallet, or if you love your wallet, your girl leaves you after 5 years of marriage and takes all the money you crammed in there by not buying her expensive things
disclaimer: I've been known to store numbers in my ass for which to dig out when quantities are required.
<offtopic>
Because clearly, you're ugly unless you're wearing jewelry.
</offtopic>http://outcampaign.org/
A gift would tell the real story here. If tech has beaten out diamonds, then would the average woman prefer a new ipod over a pair of diamond earrings, as a gift? I don't care about how competent women are with technology, I care about whether or not they desire tech more than nicely crystallized carbon.
Reinvent the wheel only at either a lower cost, greater effectiveness, or your own personal enrichment and satisfaction.
Why do less women have to troubleshoot their computers than men, seriously? I've not noticed much of a difference where I work (in health care). We aren't stupid you know.
Being married to a gamer you might expect this sooner, but...
In the first few years of our relationship/marriage any large gift giving occasion (x-mas, bday, etc) would be easily covered by some piece of jewlery, preferrably with a diamond in it. Done, locked and loaded and I was the hero.
Now, the last few gifts? New video card, PDA, MP3 player.
I'm a fiscal conservative, it's a pity we don't have a political party anymore
I've been trying to convince my girlfriend to let me upgrade her computer as a gift, but she insists on getting these shiny rocks instead.
Now I have proof that deep down inside she really does want that 256 Mb graphics card, extra gig of ram and better CPU more than those silly diamonds.
Now I just need proof that she really wants a new set of tires more than those sparkly rocks...
In the mid 90's I asked my hubby-to-be for an IBM Thinkpad instead of an engagement ring. This pre-nuptual gift helped me to complete my CS degree, which has in turn provided us with a good living.
Sod diamonds. This girl's best friend is a beautiful man.
46% of women *had* to do their own troubleshooting because they couldn't find a man to do it (he was probably busy driving around lost somewhere and refusing to ask for directions). Seriously though, where I live I would say men and women have an equal amount of gadgets (excluding vacuum cleaners and the like). However, when having a problem men seem more likely to try and fix it themselves than women. The women call me for help as soon as they have a problem, men tinker and then call me when they've screwed it up more. I asked my bf to get me a GTX video card for my birthday but all I got were diamond earrings LOL
DeBeers will defend the place (and price) of the diamont VERY violently. Expect the price of tech gadgets to skyrocket as many companies agree to pay protection to the cartel and many others disappear when they don't.
Wait...
Is this a dupe of one of the three diamond semiconductor articles to hit the front page in the last few months? I don't know, I didn't read it (or the other 3 for that matter).
Oh, and I expect insightful AND funny mods for this.
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
"Oh, people can come up with statistics to prove anything. 14% of people know that."
- Homer Simpson
When i proposed to my fiancee I gave her the ring and let her 'borrow' my PSP. Guess which she was more excited about ;)
You can say that diamonds are no longer a girls best friend all you want, but I'm certainly not going to be the one to present my girl with a new CPU or a copy of Vista for our anniversary. You guys try that and let us know how it works, ok?
I don't understand the shoe thing either. All of my "nice" shoes for work are $10-$20 thingies from Walmart or Payless or whatever. Why would people buy shoes with prices in the three or even four digit range? They're all strappy and look like they'ld break the first time you wear them anyways. I'd take anything tech related instead of the waste of money that is designer shoes.
"What is Internet Explorer 7? Are you saying we can't access the normal internet?" - I love tech support. Really.
The alternate spin being, "most women still run to men when their computer does something unexpected." (Which is not a put-down. We run to them for the really important stuff.)
sure has a lot of "tech toys."
There exists no way of exchanging information without making judgments. --Bene Gesserit Axiom
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.
ok, am I the only woman insulted by this? if we get right down to it they are saying women will be more interested in Communication and Photography. If they were talking about women between the ages of 50 and 70 I'd be impressed, those are things my mother is just starting to get in to, but she is 57. I've been IMing on and off since I was 12, I'm just simply not impressed.
I'm 23 and in the next 5 years I see MYSELF increasing MY activities in Databases, Networking and Network Security, Linux, and Mac Troubleshooting. Granted, I'm Tech, but my non Tech friends are looking to increase their activities in Web design, and Computer Building.
BTW, Most girls, don't consider Text Messaging, e-mail, Instant Messaging, or any kind of phone a "technology"; I'll give them digital camera, but in 5 years it will be considered old hat just like the rest.
More inline with the subject of the article. I would prefer tech to diamonds, mostly because, well, when am I going to need diamonds? I will need that new hard drive, and I'll use that ipod, pay for my WOW subscription for the month or two and you'll be my hero. I have one piece of jewelry with diamonds in it and that's my engagement ring, I didn't want any on my wedding band, I don't want any earring, necklaces, or bracelets with diamonds on them, I'd much rather have fuses or RAM(http://www.thinkgeek.com/apparel/jewelry/). No, really, I would.
"Just call me Girly Blank"
Or you'd know "from this day forward" ain't part of it.
That's what Microsoft tech support tells me to do all of the time - the only other thing they've told me to do is to reinstall Windows.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Depends on what you mean by "better".
For some reason, it's the arts depts that have the women I am most attracted to, not the science.
Lies about crimes
HA! Women useing computers, next thing you know they will want to drive cars!
It all depends how you define "trouble-shooting", and although I would tend to agree with you that the number sounds high at first glance, keep in mind that the /. crowd probably uses a higher standard when defining troubleshooting than they did. For all we know they defined it as "checking to make sure the cords all appear to be connected to sockets they seem to fit into" (thats about the limit of my moms "troubleshooting" before she gives up and calls me)
Geeze, so much stereotyping on this thread. The thought that women are incapable of being as high tech as guys is lame, just as the idea that women who are into shoes, and fashion are all idiots. I know many really attractive, obviously fashion concious girly girls who are making killer money in "men's" industries. Oh wait, my wife is one of those..... Today's women are doing it all. Let's stop the B.S.
> I think you'r mixing up "troubleshooting" and "fixing". The first does not imply the second.
I'm looking to buy one of these, and I guarantee you that several of my female co-workers will consider it to be as cool as I do. I'm pretty sure I can get both the guys and gals in marketing and sales drooling over it as well.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
I am really wanting one of the new "books" that one can download book text into, and I really want a new digital camera, and well, the list goes on! Maybe I can ask my significant geek if we could rescript our merging patterns and gift allotments so I can get tech toys instead of jewelry. And I want free upgrades for life.
Just kidding!
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
"all" is the operative word. You are the rare exception to women.
Me:
;)
You can't make this stuff up. These are facts and as such, we must follow them to their logical conclusion. In order to keep my wife happy, I will be ordering an 80" high def TV this weekend.
Thanks for your cooperation,
AC
Wife:
Remember when you said that we should get a new high def instead of buying the engagement ring? Yeah... that didn't work....
First, this survey was taken by women for women. I would be inclined to say that perhaps that the Oxygen Network could have went out and found a specific type of woman to survey to help their results.
found the technology gender gap has virtually closed with the majority of women snapping up new technology and using it easily.
Hmm, a women's lib network saying that the gender gap is virtually closed. Wonder what would happen if Spike TV were to interview just men and ask the same question. Of course all the pro woman's lib women would say its virtually gone. If they didn't, it would be like saying they failed, and we all know how women hate being wrong.
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."
Lets see, Ipod - Check, Cellphone - Check, TiVo - Check, Palm Pilot - Check, Compaq Computer - Check, Digital camera - Check. As for doing their own computer trouble-shooting, I would bet they mean they dial the phone to Compaq's computer support themselves instead of making their husband/boyfriend do it for them.
Click Click Bloody Click PANCAKES!
I never understood that "diamonds are a girls best...." thing i always thought it was a dick ^^
MikMik Baby Organics Mikkaworks
46% of women doing their own PC-troubleshooting, eh? I guess that is equivalent to me doing my own car maintenance by glancing at the odometer and then at the oil change sticker to figure out if it's time for another oil change.
You briefly mention it, but I think that it's the artificial diamonds that are probably keeping DeBeers et al up late at night with nightmares of profit-loss.
When we're talking about a substance that is cheaper, and most easily identifiable by its lack of flaws in comparison to the competing product, then I'd imagine that DeBeers is not very happy. I'm also happy that it appears the Canadian industry has resisted DeBeers takeover, probably because they were dealt with rather heavy-handedly to start with.
Still, in the end I'd rather go for a Sapphire, it's nicer - though possibly a bit more costly - and I'll just try to avoid any that might be associated with the evil aforementioned rock merchants.
As another aside, I believe that humans were supposed to make nice diamonds, so I might opt to become one after being cremated, as the end result would be of more social and sentimental value than an urn full of dust (assuming there's enough in me to make a diamond from).
What's more interesting is whether a) you can explain how a "tech" device works on a deep level and b) Whether you can alter it to make it more useful to you, whether through prgoramming or hardware mods. That's what they should be thinking about, not whether you have sufficient extra income to buy such devices.
Go to a shoe store. Go look at the men's section, then go to the women's section. Compare sizes, variety of selection, etc.
Compare the amount of customers buying shoes, especially non-utilitarian and/or expensive shoes (although workboots with steel-toes, etc are rather pricey).
My girlfriend, mother, sister, grandmother, and many other women I know are insane about shoes. I do have female friends that are much more practical about it, and like me they look at which shoes will last the longest and still look decent, but overall I've found most women I know have a large number of fancy overprice shoes that rarely get worn.
Now I have one that cleans my floor. This article applies to me. I don't want diamonds, I dont want shoes, I wana nanotech neuro-implants and holographic input devices so I can grab chunks of code and pull them into eachother. I want a smart house. I love my blackberry, but wish it had GPS. I would rather get ram than flowers. I once dated a rock star but his home-made touch screen is what really turned me on. I love my bluetooth headset, but it the rad factor would be so much highter if it was actually attached to my head and displayed information about everything around me in scrolling semi-opaque molly-esqe shades. I want an invisibility cloak. I want to clone elvis. I want to create a unified application environment so I only have to change my address once when I move. I want my own dev team that will build my whims. I want to aquire microsoft ( or at least have the ability to. ). I want to find a boyfriend who doesnt ask how much longer will you be? when Im coding and in the zone. I want to apply the brains thought and memory process to a search engine. and THEN, I might want to go shoe shopping. on ebay.
There is also the not-so-small matter of "Blood diamonds" or "Conflict diamonds," where diamonds mined in areas of Africa suffering civil wars are used to finance conflicts. Do you really know where that diamond came from? If you don't, you might be fueling rape and murder in war-torn countries.
I'd rather have a techie toy than a diamond. When I got married, I dissuaded my spouse-to-be from buying me a diamond because at that time most diamonds were either coming out of South Africa or brokered by the South African DeBeers cartel and South Africa was still under Apartheid. I got a Claddagh ring, with no stone, instead. No way in HELL did I want to support the Apartheid South African regime. South Africa managed to shrug off Apartheid without major bloodshed, thankfully. However, if I was to do it all over again I would do the same because of the issue of Blood diamonds/Conflict diamonds.
More on Blood diamonds/Conflict diamonds:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_diamonds
http://www.think.com.my/article.cfm?art_ID=30
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
What defines a "technology device?" Does my TV count? What about an exercise bike with a built-in computer? How about a binary coded decimal clock? Is my stero 1 device or can you split it into reciever and dvd player for 2 devices?
I say we come up with a tigher definition and fire up a
You mean that they call tech support who does all the thinking for them. I doubt that men AND women do thier own troubleshooting at a rate closer to about a 15%. After talking to alot of people about computers, i have come to the conmclusion that most don't know the difference between an Icon and a window. How can these people troubleshoot anything computer related?
saved money by buying my wife an iPod?
Make love, not reality television.
"Even more spectacular is that the number of female subscribers to Slashdot has doubled from 0.001% to 0.002%."
"Question is: How many Girlfriends can One Geek Man (TM) handle with his Linux expertise?"
I just imagined a Beowulf cluster of girls running Linux, and almost had a kernel leak.
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
It's owned by Paul Allen. Saying it's owned by women is like saying those giant SUVs roaring around during weekdays are owned by the housewives who drive them. Don't believe every survey Oxygen puts out.
We're currently developing a website for electronic engineering students, and our team has as many women on it as men. www.eeExperience.com. They are aggressive, knowledgeable, and positive. Those who dismiss women in tech don't know tech.
Read a preview of my novel CYBERCHILD at www.smartalix.com/cyberchild
The reason diamonds are a girl's best friend are their resale value, so that she has something to live on after she dumps her unfaithful boyfriend. Is technology resellable? Not so much.
Of course, none of this would matter if women made as much money as men, so that women could afford to stop viewing men as success objects.
(Being female, I have no sense of humor...)
camryl
Stereotypes are part of human psychology because, more often than not, they are statistically the right thing to think. If you buy into Bayesian reasoning, every statement has a "prior" value - a degree of belief assigned to it before any actual information on that statement has been gathered.
It is the experience of most individuals that true computer 'geeks' are rare among females, and therefore it is especially surprising to find one. Many of the few female CS majors I knew while doing my degree were anything but computer geeks (indeed I think they were very much bothered by them).
In most situations these stereotypes help an individual because a male geek is less likely to start spouting unappreciated computer nonsense out to a random female until and unless he has reason to believe (sometimes incredulously) that she would "get" it.
Another factor is that it seems (though this is a bit contraversial) that while the average intelligences of males and females are the same, that the standard deviation is somewhat higher for males. So there are fewer "genius" level females, but also fewer "idiot" level males. There is a hypothesis that this may be explained by X chromosome-linked genetic factors, which have much higher variation when a single gene is present (in males) than in females. Another explaination is that males are born in a ratio that's totally unnecessary, which explains why males are much more likely to engage in risky behavior, and possibly even express genetic traits in a more risky fashion. This article has a bit more along those lines, though I cannot vouch for its authority.
I really hate how political correctness has surpressed studies of these types of things - I'm very much a feminist and believe it is important to continue to advance the rights of females, after all even conservatives should see that it's important to make the best use out of your population. I really hate seeing someone get in trouble for saying these things are issues that should be studied.
Clearly you didn't read that last line to pick up on the humor.
It's a girl!
Yeah, apparently it's only the blonde (Oooh! Shiny!) bimbos who started the whole "diamonds are a girl's best friend" crap in the first place that can't figure out that a $4,000 flat panel TV is more desirable than a "diamond solitaire necklace", which can be purchased for $99 at any Zales Jewelers. I wonder if the stats would be the same if they specified "equal value".
"Women don't feel like they have been given credit for what they know and they are condescended to," Laybourne said. Are there just a bunch of retards writing this shit? I dont need credit for what I know I know, I know it - thats all that matters. And if I dont know it, I research and learn from not knowing (bet that came out bad since Im sick lol). 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 guess its good to try and learn, but how many of these things has a woman not touched or been near? Are the women from this article stuck in the 60's? IM's? Seriously....fuck a diamond, I need a bigger HD.
Women will always embrace any technology that allows them to nag better, faster, and/or cheaper.
Well, to reverse gender roles, I am guy who is currently wearing designer shoes.
Specifically, I am wearing the Supervog, which is Satan-resistant, a feature not available from the discount shoes.
Also, I only own one computer (an old laptop), my camera uses film, and my TV is from 1984 and doesn't have a remote. I guess you could say that I am a guy who likes shoes more than tech, although I am for some reason posting on slashdot...
how exactly are "technology devices" defined here anyway?
I mean, even the stick monkeys use to catch termites is an technology device isn't it? Seems a little narrow to define it in such a way that people could reasonably obtain an average of less than ten "devices"
Perhaps they mean electronic devices, but even there, it seems a pretty low number of items. How many digital watches, televisions with remote controls, dvd players, automatic appliances, computer controlled engine timings, cassette players, radios, clocks, calculators, smart-chip credit cards, and whatnot are simply ignored to produce a number of ~7 devices?
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
no one cares. we know diamonds are artificially priced.
His point is still valid.
Of course, you don't care about the point, you are just looking for a chance to make some vague point about De Beers.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Here's a little podcast tribute to the ladies who dig cool tech stuff more than diamonds. All the best Tom
I'm not surprised you posted as "anonymous coward" -- fear often has to masquerade. Do we first express surprise and doubt that you've been anywhere near a university with your poor spelling and written communication, or do we run with an outdated stereotype that computer people can't spell or use language properly?
Nearly everything you said was an outdated stereotype created by men (term loosely used) to ward off women from an area that they felt was theirs. Interestingly enough, you also insulted the men.
Look at this: They usually pass classes that require coding by suducing one of the lonely male students into doing it for them.
The "vast majority" of women pass classes this way. You are acknowledging that there are a consider number (enough to merit vast, in any case) but then suggesting that women use their sexuality to obtain a decent grade -- and that the men are poor suckers who can't laid without some "hot" chick giving some in order to get her work done.
This post, while extraordinarily offensive, says so much more about you than it does about your purported experience in a university. A guy who can't even spell the word "seduce"; you've given away how badly you wish your stereotype would come true for you.
In point of fact? Most of the tech "lonely geek" guys that you talk about aren't either. It's not the 80s. Tech "Geeks" are generally hot guys, and as such aren't threatened by their female counterparts. The ones who are threatened? Guys who are insecure and therefore feel the need to belittle others in order to maintain their position on top of the heap.
Oh.. and if you are are as careful in writing code as you are in language, where code is far less forgiving of errors, you'll end up without even the comfort of a job to allow you to continue in a belief system more outdated than an 8088.
-- The women are coming to "suduce" and take away male jobs -- run away, ran away quickly!
Okay, I guess so, but:
The problem lies in the differences between the perceptions and expectations of men and women who spend their lives outside of the narrow confines of Technovokia. Men who are not coders, analysts, engineers, etc. see a world where technical capability is still a basic requirement and, for the most part, go about developing that capability. Women who choose careers in non-technical fields, however, are less likely to develop the same capability. This is not inate, but is a reflection of the society at large.
This is not a huge problem, at least not yet, but it will be unless effective counter-measures are taken. As technologies, of all stripes and hues, continue to work their way into the daily life of everyone, those who are on the most familiar terms with those technologies will profit while those who are not will be marginalized.
Diamonds are still a girl's best friend because they're a pointless waste of resources.
Tech is too useful to fill the same role.
Retired from software... maybe. Sort of.
I'm a guy who's lucky enough to be currently involved with a woman who also shares an interest in technology, and I just have to say, I'd probably think twice before giving her a plasma TV as an important gift, versus say a piece of jewelry.
The TV -- or, for that matter, an iPod, or a new computer, or a Apple Cinema Display -- is probably more useful, but that doesn't mean it's as good a gift. Sometimes the things that you want to receive as gifts aren't the same things as what you just flat-out want to own. I have no doubt that if my girlfriend wanted a new iPod, she'd buy a new iPod.
It seems a little backwards, but sometimes you buy someone something as a gift because of its limited real-world utility. You're giving it to them because you want to give them something, that's it. When the object is utterly useless for anything else, it's a sort of unstated guarantee that there's no competing motive. With the HDTV, there's a sort of open question as to whether I'm giving it as a gift to her, or if I'm giving it as a gift because I really want an HDTV and this is a good excuse to buy one. (Hey, I get to watch the TV too, right?)
Even if your girl says that she'd like a TV as much as she'd like a rock, not insignificant amounts of personal experience have taught me that the reaction you will get when you give someone something that you have absolutely no use for, that they would never purchase for themselves, and is clearly nothing but an expression of your feelings for them, is a lot more impressive than if you give them something more utilitarian. Particularly if it's a surprise.
Want to be on the safe side? Buy both. Or combine an expected-but-utilitarian gift with a frivolous-but-surprising one. Tough go to wrong there.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
Diamonds were never my friend. I'd drool over a new graphics card before I ever drooled over a rock (though I will say shiny things catch my eye, but that does not nescessarilly mean gold or diamonds). On V-Day this year I was given a book and a new game. For my birthday I'm getting a new hard drive (and possibly 2GB more RAM).
Guys always react with wide eyes whenever they find out I do something even remotely connected to computers besides IMing and posting on my favourite sites. Tell me, why is it such a surprise? And why on earth did they (Oxygen Network) take so long to finally figure this out?
How many surrealists does it take to screw in a lightbulb? A fish.
Go down on me and I'll owe you one.
From TFA: "Women, on average, ... would appreciate a digital video camera more than a pair of designer shoes... three of four women would prefer a new plasma TV to a diamond necklace."
Well, DUH! One need only compare closing bids on eBay! Money is a girl's best friend. That's why men must earn more than women do for the same work - so we can afford them!
I prefer slippers, walking around since I work from home, and scratching my.... But seriously, shoes are bad. Shopping worse, people always in my way, stepping on my toes that already hurt from being in 'girlie' shoes.....where are my Vans? :X