Eurostar Group has released a tablet targeted specifically at women - the ePad Femme. Cue praise and applause from no woman, ever.
The Dubai-based developer has touted the device as the "world's first tablet made exclusively for women". To make it extra ladylike, Eurostar Group has selected a pink background for the device, which comes preloaded with various girly apps spanning everything from cooking and yoga, to grocery shopping and weight loss. The eight-inch tablet runs on Android 4.0, has 16GB of internal storage and is WiFi-enabled.
"It makes a perfect gadget for a woman who might find difficulties in terms of downloading these applications and it is a quick reference," said Mani Nair, associate VP for marketing at Eurostar Group. So, essentially, they are saying that conventional tablets that even a toddler can use are too complex for a female to handle? Ouch.
Unsurprisingly, the device has already seen the ire of many women, drawing a significant backlash online. In an article: "Five reasons why women don't need the 'ePad Femme', Telegraph journalist Sally Newall details why even the idea of this kind of device is insulting.
"The ePad Femme sounds like something that would be perfectly at home on an advert involving white trousers, blue liquid and lots of euphemisms," writes Newall. "There may be a market for curated app packages, along the same lines as choosing satellite television packages, but to make groupings along gender lines is a short-sighted mistake."
Eurostar has responded to the sexist claims by explaining that many of its products come with preloaded applications; this is simply to cater to the device's target audience.
"Pinkification" of tech
But, this is not the first time the tech companies have gotten it all wrong as far as female consumers are concerned. If the powers that be in tech heaven are to be believed, women can be simplified as calorie-counting, quiche-cooking creatures that love pink and have no clue about anything to do with technology.
As a blonde myself, I found the Keyboard for Blondes to be one of the worst offenders. Manufactured by European Trends, the bright pink keyboard allows users to "experience a blonde moment like never before". The company has replaced certain keys to make the keyboard more blonde-friendly. The Backspace key now reads: "Oops!" and should you want to use a capital letter, Caps Lock has been replaced by: "Warning! Size XXL letters". Even more insulting is that the Web site for the dumbed-down keyboard even offers instructions on how to use the scroll bar on the side of the page to move through text.
If the powers that be in tech heaven are to be believed, women can be simplified as calorie-counting, quiche-cooking creatures that love pink and have no clue about anything to do with technology.
This may be an extreme example, but for some it speaks to a larger problem - the under-representation of women in management positions in the tech industry. According to a recent study by CNNMoney, in Silicon Valley, men far outnumber women in key roles, although few of the largest global players were willing to reveal by how much. In fact, during the investigation into employment diversity in Silicon Valley, which commenced in August 2011, CNNMoney was constantly stonewalled by leaders in the industry who were unwilling to reveal data about their employees. Hiding something perhaps?
But, ladies, before you pick up your pitchforks and shovels (which are pink no doubt) and plan a siege on the Zuckerbergs of the tech world, take a moment to acknowledge that in some cases it is our fellow sisters who are holding us back. A recent Mashable article questioned why the tech world has a habit of tearing down successful women. The article discussed the increased scrutiny experienced by female execs such as Yahoo's Marissa Mayer and Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook. It revealed that this criticism often comes at the hands of their fellow women.
For me, the debate around this female-friendly tablet and the lack of women in management positions comes down to whether gender-specific products still have a place today. Why not give us, both men and women, the option to customise devices to our own preferences, instead of telling us what we should and shouldn't like based on archaic gender ideas?
Yes, I acknowledge that men and women are different, but in some ways we are pretty similar. Yes, I watch my weight and enjoy shopping, but so do many guys I know. Yes, I may have ovaries and wear dresses, but that doesn't mean I have no use for a conventional tablet. Nor does it mean my expectations from a device are dissimilar from those of my male counterparts.
For those who are interested in the ePad Femme, and some people apparently are, with 7 000 units already sold as of mid-February, the device retails for $190 and will be available from Amazon in the coming months.
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