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Apple as "the world's most feminine brand"?

by Mike Schramm Jul 30th 2009 at 12:00PM

Fortune's Bridget Brennan has a bold statement: "Why doesn't Apple make remote controls? You ask: Why Apple? Because if any company could improve one of the world's most user-unfriendly electronic devices, it would be Apple. And then there's this: Apple just may be the world's most discreetly feminine brand." Oh man. We were with her right up until that last statement: remote controls are fairly user-unfriendly, and an Apple remote (other than, you know, the one already out there) would be a thing of beauty. But "the world's most discreetly feminine brand"? That opens up a whole can of nuts we probably don't want to open.

But what the heck, snakes be damned, let's open it up. Brennan says that women drive the economy, by influencing 80% of all purchases, and 61% of all consumer electronics products. And she says Apple is doing great, because in a market that's "dude-driven" (her words, obviously), they've brought elegance and style to their products. She says that Apple products don't need manuals, and that Apple's face-to-face customer service is excellent.

Which we mostly agree with (while even Apple fans have their issues with customer service, they do a relatively good job). But "feminine"? Do guys not like elegance and style in their products? Do they enjoy reading manuals, or using electronics that aren't user friendly? Apple is successful for these reasons, sure, but we don't quite see how that makes them "feminine." Brennan concludes by suggesting that "Apple's success [shows] when you make women happy, you make everybody happy." But we're pretty sure that, in Apple's case, it's actually the other way around.

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Fortune's Bridget Brennan has a bold statement: "Why doesn't Apple make remote controls? You ask: Why Apple? Because if any company could...
 

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Steve

I'm a man .. I like to believe that means I prefer function over fashion, which is why I went with a Thinkpad instead of a Macbook. For example, as pretty as a glossy display is, a matte display is more functional; and hence, more masculine.

Many of the girls I know would rather get a Macbook however simply because "it's pretty"; they could care less what specifications are included. That's why I define the Mac-brand as "Feminine".

It all is a bit sexist to say that I figure, but I'm sure the stats back it all up.

July 30 2009 at 10:05 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Pat Dryburgh

I was actually just at an Apple Reseller store and witnessed two families, each with the female leading the way through the sale. So, maybe this assessment isn't that far off?

July 30 2009 at 9:48 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Pat Dryburgh's comment
tauw

"I was actually just at an Apple Reseller store and witnessed two families, each with the female leading the way through the sale. So, maybe this assessment isn't that far off?"

Um, the same thing happens in car dealerships, grocery stores, and restaurants all over the country, too ...

Article is silly click-bait. It's not that Apple is particularly "feminine," it's just that the company sells typically geeky tech gear that is accessible to normal people, the non-geek set. Like Nintendo.

July 31 2009 at 8:46 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Thomas

Having a taste for design is not the same thing as being feminine, stop creating gender stereotypes.

July 30 2009 at 9:34 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
David Winograd

Very slippery slope here.
I've seen this argument before and the comments so far are exactly what I'd expect.

I consider it a really dumb statement and one that deserves ridicule. But I'll leave that to some one else since I don't do ridicule.

July 30 2009 at 9:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
aazinko

Dude, Apple rules no matter how you look at it!

RT
www.anon-web-tools.tk

July 30 2009 at 8:33 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Faye

I'm a female who converted to Mac's after years of being a confirmed Windoze user. I'm also a sports nut (love hockey and baseball most) who built one of my current computers (it runs Linux; currently Ubuntu) from parts. Can't we just stop with silly gender stereotypes, and enjoy our technology? Enough already.

July 30 2009 at 8:33 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Tice

Yeah, my UNIX based Mac OS X is female and the Apache I'm running is actually a squaw. ; )

July 30 2009 at 5:19 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Anthony

Er, but Apple does make remote controls. And they don't include a fucking mute button.

July 30 2009 at 5:00 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
alansky

I'm sorry, but only an idiot would call a computer hardware and software company "the world's most feminine brand". That's just plain nuts.

July 30 2009 at 4:45 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
A Mac OCR developer

Apple didn't feminize the personal computer, they humanized it.

Bridget Brennan really doesn't get it about Apple. She writes this stuff in order to peddle her outmoded "us-versus-them" mentality.

July 30 2009 at 2:17 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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