The Windows Mobile Missionary, Issue IV: The Beauty and the Beast, or, Are Powerful Smartphones Just for Boys?
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This edition of the Windows Mobile Missionary demonstrates the wisdom of the old adage: you can’t judge a book by its cover.
Are men more techno-geeky than women when it comes to their Smartphones?
I think so.
But, the reason that I ask this is because in my experience, Windows Mobile Smartphones tend to be carried by more men than women/boys than girls. And, often when a woman is carrying a WM Smartphone, it was a hand-me-down from someone else, or an extra phone purchased as part of a business account/plan from a guy–boss, husband, friend, etc. Less often was it a direct purchase after going into a shop or website and choosing the WM Smartphone.
This seems especially true in my world, which is not dominated by techno-geeks, but rather lawyers, criminals and cops.
I can’t prove the accuracy of this observation, but I can give an example to show you what I mean. And, this may serve as a microcosm of how men and women often differ in their approach to new mobile technology.
I think that there are a number of factors involved here.
A couple of factors that quickly come to mind are aesthetics, and size. Yes, I said size. It does matter, at least when it comes to mobile technology.
What do I mean by aesthetics? What is the first impression you form when you see a new device? Sleek and beautiful handhelds are appealing. Bulky ones resembling the set from a Borg vessel tend not to be.
In fact, to some, this factor can take precedence over what’s under the hood. For a few examples, consider the iPhone, the HTC Universal, and the Palm Centro.
The iPhone, undeniably slick, cool and pretty. But as of yet, less capable than a typical WM Professional Smartphone. The Centro, small and comfortable for smaller hands, even though it runs the pre-historic Palm OS. The Universal? An impressive beast! Maybe an example of trying to do too much too soon, but A+ for effort.
Size? A behemoth device is just too big for many women–and plenty of guys. The old HTC Universal is an example.
In it’s day–and even today to a lesser extent–the Universal was quite capable and powerful. But, the one time I saw a guy using one at my local Costco, I realized that if he wasn’t such a big guy himself he’d have needed a forklift to hold the phone to his head.
The Centro has been a hit for Palm in large part because it’s size appeals to a lot of women.
I think one of the most important factors explaining this schism, however, relates more to the human than technological part of the equation. To a difference in mind-set between the genders. In my experience, in this area, guys are often more excitable and less practical than gals. Think Tim the Toolman from Home Improvement finding an even more powerful drill. Now think of how his wife, Jill. How excited would she have been? Or, would she have wondered whether the difference between the drills even mattered, when it came to performing the drill’s job: drilling?
But, why is this?
When I think techno-geek, the first people who come to mind are guys like Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, those dudes behind Google and Yahoo! You get the picture. These guys are all serious geeks.
They represent the part of the Techno-Geek Pantheon.
Women techno-geeks? Of course there are some. But do we think of them when we think of techno-geeks? I usually don’t.
There are some biggies. But who are they? Meg Whitman ran eBay when it grew into a monstrous success. But, I had to look her up on Wikipedia to find her name. Would you recognize her face? Carly Fiorina ran HP for a while. I think she was in charge when the HP/Compaq merger happened, which certainly affected the iPAQ line, but she was squeezed-out not long after she got there.
When I think of the women and technology, my mind conjures up images like this:
Thick glasses or safety goggles. Hair pulled pack in a jumbled pony-tail. Java books and handheld instruments, etc.
At the other end of my female techno-geek spectrum I see images exemplified by the women of Star Trek for about thirty-plus years.
But, suffice to say, there’s a whole lotta women who fall somewhere in the middle of these poles. I’d even go out on a limb and say MOST fall in the middle.
In our WM Smartphone world, are there more men than women? I think so.
I don’t think it’s inaccurate to say that most heavy-duty Windows Mobile device power-users are men/boys. (IExceptions include some of the most interesting sites and writers like: Judie and Jenneth from Gear Diary, to name just a couple.)
But, scan most of the enthusiast sites, review the posts (and avatars) of the most knowledgeable message boards, and take a look at those people that you might see for yourself what I’m saying. I do. Perhaps I do this too much, and perhaps I should spend more time doing other things, but it is what it is. I’m an obsesses smartphone observer.
This has anything to do with capability, but might be related to the typical approach taken by the different sexes to this part of their lives. In my experience, the result is that most users of the most powerful Windows Mobile devices have X and Y Chromosomes, not just X’s. But it’s the exceptions that are always most interesting to consider for me.
Here’s one:
I sometimes work on cases with a prosecuting attorney named Maura. You wouldn’t look at her and think: Techno-geek. I didn’t. But then, you’d be wrong, just like I was.
I don’t think she was someone who has always lusted after and experimented with the latest and greatest technological gadgets. While probably not gadget-phobic, she’s was probably what most would consider “normal.” (Unlike many of us, who spend far too much time staring at both small and large computer screens to read articles like this one on this site.)
One day last year, while watching people and their mobile phones, I noticed Maura’s. It was a pretty classic woman/girl phone. She had a pink Razr. Really. Mother of two, tough prosecuting attorney, Pink Razr owner.
I didn’t think much of it, and didn’t think for a second that she might be someone that I could help to guide in my missionary work. That was until…
One day Maura came to court carrying her new phone, a Sprint Mogul. My jaw almost dropped. You see, as I’ve mentioned before, I have a Mogul. It’s probably my 6th or 7th Windows Mobile device, and it’s not for the faint of heart.
I love my Mogul, but it can be a challenge for a veteran enthusiast. It’s a little big, it’s a little unwieldy with the slide-out keyboard, and it’s underpowered RAM can require lots of tweaking if you intend to do much multi-tasking or utilize some of the more memory intensive applications out there. I don’t think sleek and sexy when I think Mogul.
Needless to say, when I saw Maura with this phone I was surprised, but also very intrigued. Why did she have this? Was it a gift? A hand-me down? If she chose the Mogul, why did she make that decision? As a Sprint user, she had other (more user-friendly ) Windows Mobile options available like the Treo 700Wx, or the MotoQ. Or, she could have certainly chosen a Palm OS Treo, which are quite popular in the courthouse.
When I asked her these questions, her answers were simple and clear. She wanted to try to better organize her life. She thought that a powerful smartphone could help her do this. And, she wanted the larger keyboard and screen of the Mogul since she did enjoy sending a lot of text messages.
I was a little surprised at the simplicity and clarity of her thought process. I think that some of us who spend so much time reading about these devices tend to miss the forests for the trees at times. Since Maura came to the market without the benefit of this “experience,” she was able to simply review the options available from her carrier, and choose the model that actually seemed to be best suited to her needs. Pretty good stuff when you think about it.
No massive research into the various carriers, GSM/CDMA technologies, multiple and evolving OS’s, etc. My “due-diligence” for such a purchase can tack months.
A practical and less excitable mindset made the choice easy. Simply recognize what you want to use your phone for, and pick from the solid selection offered by Sprint. (This is something not unique to Sprint, however, as T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T all have good selections to choose from unless you’re obsessed with finding the latest and greatest more perfect device to hit the world market. Pretty lame, but that’s more like my thought process when I start shopping for a device.)
Practicality versus excitability. Prioritizing the decision among the life’s many others. I have found this fault-line to be critical in understanding my own approach to mobile technology as opposed to my wife’s. I don’t image I’m alone. Am I?
So, now that we’ve taken this admittedly unusual journey, what do you think? Am I off my rocker? Do you believe that there are no differences between the sexes when it comes to this stuff? If there are differences that you’ve observed, what do you think accounts for it?
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If the people who designed the products (hardware and software) were (or knew any) girls, we might have devices that did a better job appealing to women.
For example, some devices are almost impossible to use if you have longer fingernails. And size is less of an issue if you carry your device in your purse. Bluetooth headsets can be devices of torture for smaller ears and many are just plain ugly.
The solution for this market is the same as auto manufacturing. If you want to make products that women will get excited about buying, bring women into the design process.
I agree. I’ve never thought of how longer fingernails would affect my use of a device, but now that you bring it up, that’s a pretty important consideration.
Good points about a more inclusive design process. For that matter, how about including more USERS in the process itself. We always seem to find flaws and issues with new devices that are easy to avoid if cought early enough.
For instance, the paltry 64MB of RAM in the Mogul. Pathetic when you consider what that phone can do.
HTC didn’t make that same mistake with the TyTNII/Tilt.
Andrew, there’s plenty of differences between the genders when it comes to gadgets, but I disagree with your idea for the reasons. The levels of illiteracy when it comes to Pocket PC’s are about the same for everyone, *even though* men are surrounded with more information, access & opportunities to get hooked on mobile computing. When you consider females have to go out of their way to even find out about gadgets, we may be in the majority.
I think we are all looking for the features we want & whatever piece of hardware can meet that need. We like pretty designs, men & women alike, but plenty of us gals would puke at the idea of a pink PPC. I for one wouldn’t be caught dead even with a pink phone. The # & type of features we want is proportional to our experience. My first PDA only did contacts & notes, these days my PPC handles my entire life.
Gadget size can be less an issue for women than for men, since we carry a purse & can manage more bulk than you guys with the must-fit-the-breast-pocket limitation. Of course, cell phones are better small for everyone, but my last PPC upgrade was from an iPaq 2210 (3.5″ screen, big by today’s standards) to a hefty HTC Advantage X7501 (5″ of brilliant VGA). For weeks I carried them *both* in my small purse until I completed the transition, & yes, the Advantage is my cell phone too. Actually, size can be important in other ways: When I bought the Advantage I wanted a VGA screen as big as possible. I’m getting older & just got my first set of bifocals, no way I wanted to read on a 2.8″ screen or smaller. BTW, reading is my #1 activity on any PPC.
Gadgets like the iPhone are popular because of the hype & because they’re easy for beginners that don’t want to study a big manual or install anything extra. They work out of the box. That has nothing to do with gender either. I’d have gotten one myself if it included a replaceable battery, expansion card, & ability to install software, plus a few other conveniences I can no longer live without.
Am I a techno geek? I think so, but by some definitions, not really. I’m not a gamer; Solitaire & Minesweeper are still good enough. I won’t attack my hardware with a screwdriver unless strictly necessary. On the other hand, I certainly have been known to drool over the specs of a new laptop or PPC, my inner geek (a personal version of the inner child) jumping up & down & pulling at a virtual sleeve, crying “Me wanna, wanna, wanna!” I’m not a programmer, but I use a computer at work all day, then go home & use my own just for fun. The PPC bridges the gap. I no longer have to carry heavy books or printouts, don’t have to keep post-it notes with phone numbers, directions, reminders, shopping or to-do lists.
My 3 closest female friends, all from 30-40 (I’m almost 50), have been using PPC’s for years, one of them far longer than me (I’m considered the geekier of the group). 2 of them I can claim responsibility for pushing them to the PPC world, & it fills me with pride when either one gets all enthusiastic over flash cards on sale or shows off a new case, being as girly as if it were the stereotypical new pair of shoes.
Just like anything else, women & men have levels of geekdom, personal preferences, & feature needs. For most of us, becoming aware of what’s available is all it takes before we take the plunge for good & turn our lives digital. I hope marketing catches up, they’re missing a big chunk of customers who only lack information.
Rosie
(yet another female gadget freak)
@Rosie: I use the HTC Advantage as my only device as well. (In my state you have to use a headset while driving anyway, but I do, on occasion, hold it up to my head. I really don’t care if passers-by think I am strange for having a big phone against my ear.) I also am not a gamer (I can’t even figure out Minesweeper!) but use my PDA to help me run my business. (I wrote a piece for Gear Diary about how I used my Trinity in that capacity: http://getsomehairapy.wordpress.com/2007/10/01/what-would-i-do-without-it-or-how-i-use-my-htc-trinity-for-gear-diary/)
I switched to the Advantage from the Trinity because of the allure of that big, crisp, VGA screen. I switched to AT&T from Verizon so that I could have access to a broader choice of devices. I know most people are content buying whatever their provider offers, but I guess that’s where my Inner Geek comes out.
I think people like us are the bleeding edge of this niche. I see a range of small MID (mobile internet devices) on the horizon that are closer in size to the Advantage than they are to traditional smartphones. They have connectivity, but the question remains whether or not they will have voice call capability. I am personally not interested in carrying two devices, but I think the manufacturers are marketing these products as supplements to a cell phone, not replacements, which I think is a shame. Perhaps they envision a world where we all have basic phones and all the bells and whistles are in the MID companion device.
I am trying to get the folks at Microsoft to get more women on their Windows Mobile team. More specifically, I am on a mission to get them to let me be a beta tester. If any of you know someone who can make that happen, send them my way!
Rosie-
Great comments and really thorough post!
I was hoping to provoke a bit of discussion, and it seems that I have.
I don’t disagree with your points, but I think you are definitely a techno-geek, so my observations wouldn’t really apply to someone like yourself. Anyone who has an Advantate is a serious WM user! (I’m jealous.)
We’re in the same age bracket, so we may have similar historical perspectives on this evolving technolgy.
But, perhaps your friends (who you can proudly claim responsibility for) were more “typical” before your Missionary work was so successful.
I’m curious, what sort of work do you use your computer for during the day? What field are you in?
–Andrew
Aura Mae-
You were posting as I was typing.
You are also a serious techno-geek. (Nice Advantage for you, too.)
Just the fact that first two commenters to the post are women tells me that you are both as enthusiastic about this stuff as I am! Pity us all.
– Andrew
Hello again, fellow geeks. Aura Mae, congrats on the Advantage experience (Tariq, there’s more of us!), and don’t bother holding it to your ear, it only works as a speakerphone anyway without the headphones . Were you ever able to get the included headset to work? Mine are so low in volume as to be unusable, so it’s BT or speaker. Here’s hoping you can get into beta testing, we need more female POV not so much to get things geared to our needs (there’s plenty of overlap), but mainly to show we are a big presence in the market.
I also had to leave Verizon to get my Advantage hooked up, but the AT&T prices were a joke, the vendors kept on pushing the iPhone, & then had the nerve to tell me I couldn’t use a SIM card on my unlocked phone. After laughing in their faces I went to T-Mobile who happily set me up at half the price. Ignorance is rampant, and I live in New York!
Andrew, I’m laughing away at the idea that the first two gals here out-gadget you! Bwahahahaha! As for my converted friends, neither one was ever into gadgets, probably still aren’t, but we are all avid readers & just watching me go from book to book without breaking my back carrying them was enough to get them into the fold. $ was more an issue than anything else to limit hardware choices, after that it’s been pretty simple. One of them doesn’t even sync her PPC, never installed any extra software either, only uses the browser & reader, but is always on the lookout for bigger & better storage. The other is on her way to being a techno geek herself. I’m beside myself with pride.
I work as an estimator, calculating project costs, schedules, breakdowns, etc, for the railroad. I’ve been in construction (project tracking) & before that in banking (yet more numbers). I’ve basically spent the last 23 years adding up $, alas someone else’s.
Rosie
Rosie-
You totally out-geek and out-gadget me.
I bow down to you in full Wayne’s World: “I’m not worthy” mode.
– Andrew
P.S. My wife keeps threatening/promising to post after one of my articles, so another woman can add to the ridicule being heaped upon me. So cruel on father’s day and all.
Bring her on, Andrew, looking forward to us gals ganging up on the boys! But no ridicule, ok? Just friendly teasing. Even when it’s not Fathers Day we still have a soft spot for you kids, especially when we can surprise you & show you we can be cool too. I’ve had great times chatting about my favorite comics or anime & watching young men looking at me with their jaws hanging open that I had even heard of Camelot 3000, Death Note, & the like. ;D
BTW, I’ve been reading your previous posts (I’m new on this blog as you can see) & I’m right with you over the “conversion” of those who could benefit so much from a little mobile computing. I see them every day with their thick planners, little bits of paper everywhere, binders full of business cards. Even my very first iPaq, with its measly bit of RAM (36MB I think?) could do things all those years ago that would astonish them today. We gotta be gentle but firm & drag them into the light, even if they squirm & protest a little. It’s for their own good, right?
Rosie
Amen, Rosie. Amen!
>When I think of the women and technology, my mind conjures up images like this:…Thick glasses or safety goggles. Hair pulled pack in a jumbled pony-tail. Java books and handheld instruments, etc.
Hahahahah! Hm, well that accurately describes my wife the research scientist.
It’s odd to me that she’s something of a technophobe, but I wonder if it’s more an aspect of her personality or some amount of cultural conditioning. She’s definitely in the “I just want it to work” crowd than the “technology for technology’s sake” group that I’m in. I’ve been trying to get my wife to use a smartphone instead of her mini-Franklin planner that she could use in tandem with her side business of running a “high-end” cosmetics/personal care site. Instead of being tethered to a desktop PC, she could send/receive orders, check inventory/shipping status, contact vendors, and so forth wherever she was. Right now we’ve got Verizon for another year, and she’s perfectly happy with her Razr. I have no complaints with my SCH-i760, and my wife is well aware of all it can do, but still demurs. Part of the problem, aside from being a technophobe of sorts, is her concern about costs, both for the device and the data plans in general. Of course, I remind her how I had to drag her, kicking and screaming, into the world of broadband. She was opposed to costs and how useful it would be, and now she gets upset when the network goes down and can’t imagine not having broadband. 
@Rosie, as a fellow Advantage owner may I inquire what T-mobile plan you got and what its price was compared to AT&T? I’d be perfectly happy using it for internet access only.
breley-
Your wife sounds like an interesting case. She’s clearly capable of understanding and getting good use of the technology, but for some reason she just isn’t interested or intrigued by the options. Her “I just want it to work” mindset seems more like Maura’s. While it’s not how I think about this stuff–nor how you, Rosie or Aura Mae [all techno-geeks]–there’s something to be said for such a sensible approach.
Look at that, Tariq, more Advantage owners coming out of the woodwork! Told ya I wasn’t the only one around.
breley, I got the unlimited basic data plan, $30/month. It may be under “Sidekick”, but it’s the same thing. Beware that most times it shows online for $40, you may need to get it on a store or wait for a sale. This is of course on top of a call plan. The cheapest at AT&T was $40 & at the time it wasn’t unlimited (I understand it is now). Still, with their snotty attitude & ignorance, I wouldn’t have given them the contract even though they have better area coverage (I live & travel in metro areas exclusively anyway).
Curiously enough, the T-Mobile vendor said I could use my basic data service to tether the laptop as long as my PPC had wi-fi, but I haven’t needed it yet & keep forgetting to try. The AT&T tethering plan is around $70! If this is important for you, check with the T-Mobile rep to see if it’s indeed supported.
Andrew, sorry if I nitpick, but we *all* want gadgets to just work. We look for a gadget to satisfy a specific need as is. The poetry starts when us geeks get our grubby hands on a new baby, we push it to its limits, customizing & improving what comes out of the box, finding out all it can do. Keeping up with news & other users everyone finds out about upgrades, software, new & improved models. Homework & research for regular folks, entertainment for us.
But let’s not forget the POV issue. Some are happy with a method of doing whatever & are reluctant to change unless forced to by advancing technology or glaring evidence of a better way. Others always welcome a new way of handling things. And then there’s the tweakers. I for one take a first step on every piece of software or hardware: straight to the Properties. I’m a firm believer that default options are for chums.
Rosie