Wednesday, Aug 20, 2008
Apple knows what girls (and grown-ups) want; pity poor famous Margaret Cho; does Giuliani have anything to talk about besides carpetbagging?
Aug 4, 1999 | The Barbie fixation
BY JANELLE BROWN
(07/28/99)
My wife is a project manager in the IT industry. Having listened to her gripes on many an occasion, I know that what she wants is technology which works. Forget the bells and whistles; if it fulfills the requirements and is robust enough to withstand amendments, that is enough. If it's pretty too, that is an advantage. Many people in this business focus on the "neat" factor to the exclusion of the practical. Maybe it's time for more female values?
-- Rik Meucci
London
I was at the New York MacWorld Expo, where the iBook was introduced. Though Apple had row after row of iBooks to try out, there were lines of people waiting to get their hands on one. Many computer journalists had egg on their face last year after they criticized Apple's new iMac; the iMac broke all sales records at Apple and was key to their financial comeback.
There are many people like myself that are simply trying to run a business and want to use a computer that can get the work done, without having to call up a consultant every couple months. I (a 42-year-old male) would love to get a new iBook. And yes, my 17-year-old daughter told us that she would very much like to take a new iBook with her to college next year.
-- Glenn Grafton
Telford, Pa.
Dvorak is right on target. I don't know anyone in my business who has expressed an interest in the iBook, primarily because of the "sissy" colors. Many of my associates have an iMac, but who wants to be seen with the new iBook? Would you take this thing into a new business presentation? I think not. In my professional opinion, the color scheme gives the iBook very limited marketing/sales potential to the very market it intends to flood.
-- Dave Riley
New York
When I read Dvorak's column, I thought that he was ridiculing nothing else but himself. I, for one, do not think of the iBook as "girly" or "effeminate," and will be happy to lug one around as soon as I can lay my hands on one.
-- Alain Chammas
Girl talk
BY JANELLE BROWN
(07/28/99)
I find nothing troubling about the idea of teenage girls using the Internet as a forum to discuss their questions and anxieties about sex. Fifteen years ago, when I was a teenager, those of us whose parents weren't comfortable discussing these issues had to make do with stealing issues of Playboy from our older brothers' bedrooms -- or, worse, through trial and error with early sexual partners. It seems much healthier for girls to have a place where they can learn about orgasms and birth control without embarrassment, and without having to learn through their own experimentation.
-- Sarah Gold
New York
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