Dell for Wimmins

Morgase

My boyfriend just sent me this link to a section of the Dell website (to get a rise out of me I think!).

Dell for Wimmins

I'm having some difficulty trying to figure out if they are for real with having a separate section of the Dell site for women. Can they be serious about using phrases such as these when advertising their netbooks:

"Choose the color and size that suit you best – then tote your lightweight, adorable Mini along day and night so you can keep up with your email, IMs, videos and music."

The emphasis in the descriptions of the various models is all to do with the colours available and the styles - the specs of the model are just an aside.

Surely us women wouldn't be interested in the specs at all? No! Obviously the colour is far more important.

Ok rant over.

Oryx

Check the weather, movie times or restaurant directions wherever you go

I like this quote, cos obviously, apart from a coordinating cover, thats all we want a computer for.


And now, dammit, Im giving them free advertising.

As if there weren't enough reasons not to buy a dell already.

Will

I think they're just trying to capitalise on the 'yummy mummy' market out there for women who aren't interested in computing power and who are just interested in what's pretty and hip to be seen with.

Bit offensive to the ladies.

The tech tips doesn't even give any technical info >.<

Melange

Wow... that's not half insulting. Someone clearly hasn't told Dell's marketing department that this is no longer the 1950s.

liah

This is a joke, yeah?

This has to be a joke.

Melange

liah wrote: »

This is a joke, yeah?

This has to be a joke.

If it were April 1st I really would assume that it's a giant wheeze on the part of Dell, but not so, unfortunately.

I'm going to write a letter of complaint to Dell. Anyone care to join me?

liah

I did a little rant on my blog about it, but I wouldn't really know how to contact them. I mean, I know how, it's just which bloody department would you send that kind of thing to? There's loads. Customer service?

It's just so... ugh.

O'Coonassa

michael_dell@dell.com

I thought teh womens loved teh pretty colours <snortle>

Firefox10

No it's not a joke and yes, this is a real dell site for women. All women want their netbooks in Pretty pink.:o Are you all upset by this?

Sleipnir

Meh, I don't think there's anything wrong with it really. I mean, if my mum wanted to buy a laptop and ended up here she'd call my dad.

This website isn't meant for users such as Liah, it's for people who really don't understand or care about spec. They want a computer that can get them to the Irish Times Crossword, email etc and really not do anything else.

You think there aren't women out there who wouldn't buy this and not care that their laptop didn't come with 4GB of RAM instead of 2?
Of course there are, thousands of them! If you're not one of them, is that something to get annoyed about?

I mean, a quick look at the HP laptops on the HP website shows the description

World's first "digital clutch--"perfect companion for staying connected to your e-mail, instant messenger, favorite blogs, Web; also available in original Vivienne Tam peony-inspired design

Do you find that offensive?

"Ohmygawd! A Vivienne Tam!"

liah

It's offensive because it's gender specific. If it were saying that on the regular dell site instead of creating an entire whole new one, fine. But it's specifically created an entirely new subsite targeting women as if they're all bimbos.

That's what I've the problem with.

Agent Smith

there are women who would buy a laptop soley on the colour bases.

liah

Agent Smith wrote: »

there are women who would buy a laptop soley on the colour bases.

Men too.

Sleipnir

Melange wrote: »

Wow... that's not half insulting. Someone clearly hasn't told Dell's marketing department that this is no longer the 1950s.

Insulting advertising?

JC 2K3

If Dell want to sell their laptops as fashion accessories they're free to do so as far as I'm concerned.

I don't think aiming a fashion item at a particular gender is sexist, nor do I think that it implies that all members of that gender are interested in that fashion item.

The_Conductor

Agent Smith wrote: »

there are women who would buy a laptop soley on the colour bases.

Tell me about it- I spent a whole afternoon looking at laptops with my baby sis- comparing them- and going through the pros and cons (she is going travelling so portability has to be an issue). 3 hours later- we went back to shop number 1 and bought 'the pink one'........ I didn't speak to her for a week........

Sleipnir

smccarrick wrote: »

Tell me about it- I spent a whole afternoon looking at laptops with my baby sis- comparing them- and going through the pros and cons (she is going travelling so portability has to be an issue). 3 hours later- we went back to shop number 1 and bought 'the pink one'........ I didn't speak to her for a week........

Ours is not to reason why. Ours is but to do, and die.

animaal

Ah, in fairness, I think this type of thing can be taken a bit too seriously.

Alienware (also owned by Dell) machines are largely targetted at males. I think they're the most childish and god-ugly things ever, but I don't feel that it's an insult to all men. It's just targetting some section of the population that doesn't include me.

Melange

JC 2K3 wrote: »

If Dell want to sell their laptops as fashion accessories they're free to do so as far as I'm concerned.

I don't think aiming a fashion item at a particular gender is sexist, nor do I think that it implies that all members of that gender are interested in that fashion item.

The problem here is that Dell assumes that the only people interested in viewing computers as pretty fashion items are women, and that there are no women who are interested in what the computer is technically capable of, instead of what it looks like. If that were not the case there would at least be some focus in that "Della" section (awful name, too) on technical specs. Hell, even the "tech tips" page contains next to no technical information!

I know countless men who are far more concerned with a computer's aesthetic appearance than its specifications and capabilities, but they don't have a patronising special section dedicated to them. And if we're going to get all gender-political and so forth about this, the mere existence of a special women's section is arguably an indication that men are seen the norm, and women are seen as a special oddity set apart from that norm - at least in the computer industry.

Melange

animaal wrote: »

Alienware (also owned by Dell) machines are largely targetted at males. I think they're the most childish and god-ugly things ever, but I don't feel that it's an insult to all men. It's just targetting some section of the population that doesn't include me.

I would have thought that Alienware computers were targeted at gamers in general, not men in particular.

The_Conductor

Melange wrote: »

I would have thought that Alienware computers were targeted at gamers in general, not men in particular.

The only people I know who own alienware laptops are 3 women (who are members of boards- and well able to talk for themselves). Its very much targetted at gamers- not gender specific. I didn't buy an Alienware when I bought my last laptop- I couldn't justify the price- I bought an Acer gaming laptop- and then got top notch components on ebay and did it up myself.

Another reason for not buying it- is aesthetics- its incredibly ugly..... I'd much rather something that looks boring as hell- but is an absolute devil under the bonnet.....

A Primal Nut

I never usually think anything is sexist but I think this is rediculous. While I think its a good marketing idea to market them at girls, they cross a line with all the stuff about what a girl would want to do with their laptop and the tech tips section is just...it has to be a joke, right?

JC 2K3

Melange wrote: »

The problem here is that Dell assumes that the only people interested in viewing computers as pretty fashion items are women.

They're a company. They can market towards a particular demograph if they like.

Consider the following:
A bag is a tool for carrying things around. It can be used for carrying numerous different things and comes in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Bags are owned by nearly everyone, and nearly everyone will buy multiple bags in their lifetime.

A bag company discovers that by creating bags with non functional, aesthetic elements to them, that they can sell more of them and for a higher price. They have done market research and noticed that the buyers of these will largely be female. They decide that although it seems some males would be interested, that they'd want different styles, and ultimately, it'd be more in their interests to market bags as fashion accessories exclusively towards women.

Is this sexist?

tinkerbell

LOL I'm a woman and I find this hilarious

Seifer

Melange wrote: »

The problem here is that Dell assumes that the only people interested in viewing computers as pretty fashion items are women, and that there are no women who are interested in what the computer is technically capable of, instead of what it looks like.

Dell have market researchers, it's not like they did this on a whim. They invested time and money into developing the Della section which they would only do if they thought it would make them more money.
All the techy savvy girls can just not click into the Della section and use the standard site.

Melange wrote:

I would have thought that Alienware computers were targeted at gamers in general, not men in particular.

Gamers = = men from Alienware's point of view. They're aiming at the "hardcore" PC gamers which is not an area of gaming where there are a lot of women.

Dave147

For all you women who are uber 1337 G1bs0n h4x0rs, think of all the women around the world who haven't a clue about computers and want their laptop to match their Mini Cooper. More than you think.

liah

Seifer wrote: »

Gamers = = men from Alienware's point of view. They're aiming at the "hardcore" PC gamers which is not an area of gaming where there are a lot of women.

Honestly, in competitive gaming it's at around 30-35% women and constantly growing, or at least in the FPS I've played. The number is bound to be much higher in RPGs and MMOs.

That gamers = men viewpoint is ridiculously outdated at this stage.

Dave147 wrote:

For all you women who are uber 1337 G1bs0n h4x0rs, think of all the women around the world who haven't a clue about computers and want their laptop to match their Mini Cooper. More than you think.

Same amount of men I'd wager.

Melange

Seifer wrote: »

Dell have market researchers, it's not like they did this on a whim. They invested time and money into developing the Della section which they would only do if they thought it would make them more money.
All the techy savvy girls can just not click into the Della section and use the standard site.

I think that's kinda missing the point. A section of the Dell site devoted to the aesthetic/lifestyle angle of computing is not something that I'd have any problem with, but it ought to be gender neutral to reflect the fact that there are men who are primarily interested in the physical aspects of a computer, just as there are women who are primarily interested in the technical aspects. The women who are interested in the pretty pretty colours can go to such a fashion section, and all are satisfied.

Gamers = = men from Alienware's point of view. They're aiming at the "hardcore" PC gamers which is not an area of gaming where there are a lot of women.

The fact remains that Alienware are still targeting gamers, not men. The fact that the vast, vast majority of hardcore gamers happen to be men is irrelevant.

Seifer

liah wrote: »

Honestly, in competitive gaming it's at around 30-35% women and constantly growing, or at least in the FPS I've played.

Honestly, it's not.

liah wrote:

That gamers = men viewpoint is ridiculously outdated at this stage.

Just going to ignore the fact I wrote "from Alienware's point of view" after it?
We're not talking about all of gaming i.e. handhelds and wiis, just about people that into are pc gaming enough they are willing to commit €1000+

Melange wrote:

I think that's kinda missing the point. A section of the Dell site devoted to the aesthetic/lifestyle angle of computing is not something that I'd have any problem with, but it ought to be gender neutral to reflect the fact that there are men who are primarily interested in the physical aspects of a computer, just as there are women who are primarily interested in the technical aspects. The women who are interested in the pretty pretty colours can go to such a fashion section, and all are satisfied.

All I'm saying is Dell are playing the numbers. They're not stupid and will have done research into whether there is a market for this kind of site.
Despite the fact that there are men who will buy a computer based on how it looks, most men still like to look at the numbers and buy the bigger ones, even if they have no idea what they refer to.

JC 2K3

Melange wrote: »

I think that's kinda missing the point. A section of the Dell site devoted to the aesthetic/lifestyle angle of computing is not something that I'd have any problem with, but it ought to be gender neutral to reflect the fact that there are men who are primarily interested in the physical aspects of a computer, just as there are women who are primarily interested in the technical aspects. The women who are interested in the pretty pretty colours can go to such a fashion section, and all are satisfied.

But fashion isn't gender neutral.... If there's not enough of a market for laptops as male fashion accessories, then Dell shouldn't be obligated to market laptops towards men like this.