Girlie gadgets

I totally got swept up in the holidays already, and it’s barely Thanksgiving. This whole Christmsas shopping thing is becoming a bigger, and longer, marketing ploy every year.  Now, if I were talking about anything other than advertising campaigns, bigger and longer might be a good thing, but it seems like Christmas comes earlier every year (not a good thing in any situation), convincing us to shop early and spend often. But does that stop me from buying into it? ‘Course not, I just use it as an excuse. But more on that later.

As of (Black) Friday, my absolute favorite holiday, I will officially be in the clear to get in the Chri$tmas spirit and start paying some ad execs’ salaries. However, I couldn’t resist sharing this cool article on fun, funky and functional techie gifts just a little bit early.

I personally would love to  see a Swarovski crystal USB memory key under my tree this year. Impractical? Maybe. Pretty? Definitely. And therein lies the marketing genius.

I’m nothing if not girlie. Princess-like at times. And I’ve never pretended otherwise, which I think is why I had a hard time being taken seriously when I first started working at an internet marketing company-the male-dominated office was a microcosm for the entire industry. However, things are changing and  more and more girlie-girls are entering the “man’s world” of computers.

Smart technology companies are taking the “pinking” theory one step further and encouraging women to purchase computer accessories and electronics by making them more feminine. Gone are the boring black laptop bags and lost hours at BestBuy; Target, Coach, Apple, Dell and Sony are just a few of the enlightened brands making tech products and accessories more appealing to females.

Some may call it a cheap marketing trick (what other kind is there?); others think it dumbs down or de-professionalizes the industry or work place. I think it stylizes things women need anyway, so what’s the harm? If I have to carry a laptop case anyway, it might as well match my outfit. As long as I’m still doing my job well, why does it matter that my iPod is accessorized with a pink suede case from Coach and my laptop stays safe in a cute polka dot tote?