Worldy Wise Women.com

Chauvinists may want to think of a world without women, but it's impossible to think of an IT world without them...

AD: Hey, what’s up?

BC: I need to finish some work quickly and then attend a wedding. We’re running late, and she's started yet...

AD: What’s taking her so long?

BC: Guess it’s all those accessories…

AD: Oh, ok…

BC: I’ve tried really hard, but I’m yet to understand why she chooses to do things so differently…

AD: Could it be because you don’t speak her language?

BC: You’re right, I don’t. She has her own logic that she internalizes with…

AD: Have you tried getting the message across?

BC: No, each time I try, she simply switches off.

AD: Perhaps her memory...?

BC: No, that’s good. I got that checked recently. In fact, she not only remembers all my mistakes, she recalls them too.

AD: Oops, that’s not good for you…

BC: And she gets heated up for no reason at all.

AD: Think she could have caught a virus?

BC: That’s not possible, she has a check-up every month.

AD: But you just cannot do without her, can you?

BC: That’s right. She's terrific in solving problems, but I guess she’s become old – I'll have to go for an upgrade.

AD: What? How can you talk about your wife like that?

BC: Wife? I was talking about my computer!

AD: But why do you refer to a computer as ‘she’? Women may not like it.

BC: If your macho bike can be feminine, so can my computer. Besides, isn’t it just a way of endearing yourself to your prized possession?

AD: Just that it’s pretty ironical… computers being referred to in feminine gender.

BC: Why, you think women aren’t good enough with computers?

AD: On the contrary, it is widely believed that the world’s first programmer was a woman.

BC: I think we’ve spoken about her once - Ada Lovelace?

AD: That's right. Women have also played a key role in developing languages - the credit for creating COBOL, a programming language, goes to Grace Hopper.

BC: News like these will definitely get more women to take up IT as a profession…

AD: Well, Mattel has been trying to inspire young girls through a Computer Engineer Barbie doll…

BC: Catch them young, huh?

AD: Absolutely! The numbers are pretty dismal in the US – according to a 2009 survey, women hold only 25% of all the computer-related jobs in the country.

BC: I’m sure India fares much better – we have so many women programmers and IT professionals.

AD: Computers have fascinated not just techie women, but also Hollywood actresses – the technique for spread spectrum communication, the technology that drives CDMA phones, GPS, wireless LAN and so much more, was created by Hedy Lamarr.

BC: And people thought actresses were…

AD: Don't say the word! The Computer Algebra System (CAS), the program for symbolic mathematics is derived from the efforts of Grete Hermann, who began as a mathematician and went on to become a philosopher…

BC: I’m sure that a computer must have had that effect on her.

AD: Your misadventures with computers are now legendary…

BC: Guess I have to go now.

AD: She’s ready?

BC: Yes, and the best part is that once she gets started, things get done in a jiffy.

AD: Your computer?

BC: No, I was referring to my wife.