I'm here in France on a press trip, which is being run by HP under the banner 'Quality Me Time'. They've invited a load of consumer women's magazine journalists to explain just how technology can benefit them (think Glamour, Grazia etc). So far, so "Look! You can catalogue your shoe collection!". I approach these things with a healthy dose of pessimism, and pretty much expect to patronised by a load of men in suits talking down to me, because they've got no idea that I'm actually quite a big technology fan...
God, I hate it when I have to eat humble pie.
I hate to say it, but I think HP might actually know what they're talking about.
It started well, when a female VP got up to introduce the session. She explained that they had identified various subgroups within the title 'female' which had lead them to develop several products with different end users in mind. For instance, the time-pressed mother was not going to want the same things as the savvy student.
Sound obvious? Well, just think about how many companies are out there at the moment, still slapping a coat of pink on their product and declaring that it's perfect for your girlfriend for Valentines Day.
They also discussed the problem of how to approach women. According to their research, women were just as interested as men about technology, if not more so. And we certainly have a lot of buying power which it's worth companies tapping into. They concluded that whilst us women had the interest in technology, our interest is specifically in the benefits to us, rather than why this stuff works. Obviously, there are going to be women who love nothing more than taking apart a computer and playing with the mechanics, but on a personal level, I just want things to work. If it doesn't, it's not worth my time. Processor speeds? Good to know, but I'm more interested in whether it's going to crash when I edit video whilst playing music.
Inevitably, design to did come up - it's an important part of making your product stand out from the competition. But, and I say this with glee, not one pink product was shown to us. Instead, a product designer walked us through the many elements that make up an attractive product. It might be the feel of the keypad, the colours of the LED lights used, the design of the accessories. It was so refreshing to see design looked at so holistically. I've no doubt that other companies also take a similar view, but how many take the time to explain to their intended audience why they've chosen certain customisable features?
To be absolutely honest, I'm not sure that HP's product line has yet reached the levels that they're talking about. One of the laptops they showed us was the Dragon, and if that's not a masculine looking laptop, I'm not sure what is.
But they've got some interesting ideas, and according to a April Slayden Mitchell, who works at HP Labs, the R&D area of the company, there's more to come. For every skin tone/foundation tone matching service they showed us, there was a more serious video conversation application they're developing. And no one is saying technology shouldn't be fun. It's just nice to see a company acknowledging that for every woman who wants ideas on make-up, there's one who wants to be able to update her family on her child's progress.
And quite honestly, it's difficult to stay sceptical in the French Alps.
Susi Weaser is the editor of Shiny Shiny, and is off to chuck herself down a black run.
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