She'll buy it if it's in pink...

It’s a huge misconception that men buy more tech devices than women, claims a tech fan.

BC: Hi, you seem deep in thought...

AD: I came across an interesting discussion on Facebook - a couple of friends were pretty peeved that a site had segregated its products through separate sections for men and women.

BC: So where's the problem?

AD: Apparently the women's section featured only lifestyle, fashion, healthcare and personal care products, while the men's section had electronics, technology and a whole lot of other categories...

BC: Why? Because men invest more in technology than women?

AD: You're wrong - there's a lot of research online which shows that women buy more electronic goods and gizmos than we think...

BC: Is that so?

AD: Absolutely! In fact, reports also show that they download more movies and music, and spend more time playing games online or on their gaming consoles...

BC: In that case, why is it that technology is automatically deemed a male domain?

AD: One reason could be because technology's generally considered a geek's world - and one rarely comes a female geek. Also, technology has been pioneered mostly by men...

BC: But what about women like Radia Perlman? Isn't she referred to as the 'mother of the Internet'?

AD: That's right, and there have been many women, from Carly Fiorina, who headed Hewlett-Packard, to Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer, who've made a name for themselves in the tech world...

BC: So why aren't brands taking note of this fact?

AD: Some did, but were off by a long way. A few years ago, Dell had come up with a site exclusively for women called Della...

BC: Was that their idea of adding femininity to the brand Dell?

AD: Whatever, but the site offered netbooks specially made for women. And it also gave them tips on all their favourite topics - health, yoga, meditation and food – to facilitate online shopping and downloads...

BC: In other words, everything that women are 'supposed' to do with a laptop...

AD: That's right. But after the scathing criticism that followed, they apologised and amended the site to be more inclusive of tech topics...

BC: Guess the popular misconception of 'make it in pink so she'll buy it' has affected many...

AD: This extends to social media as well…

BC: What do you mean?

AD: A report has revealed that women in the US use social media more than men. In fact, they vastly outnumber the number of men on Pinterest. So, with each brand increasingly looking towards social media to reach out to their target audience, this skew towards men is shocking.

BC: Absolutely!

AD: This goes for mobile, laptops and tablets too, where women are outshopping men...

BC: I'm sure it's quite different in India.

AD: We still have some distance to catch up, but you can see the number of women owning mobile phones and tablets on the rise... In fact, a survey conducted in the UK shows that women have made more purchases using their smartphones than men have...

BC: Really?

AD: Yes, incidentally, women also download more apps than men, and use these apps - and the devices they've purchased - more often than men do.

BC: Is there anything at all where men are ahead?

AD: Yes, LinkedIn has more male users than...

BC: So what about that famous theory about women being more compulsive shoppers in stores?

AD: Women have found out ways of using technology even when they shop in physical stores...

BC: Like what?

AD: They are more likely to use their camera phones and take snaps of a product to check with a friend or to compare prices online. They also make better use of the QR technology to learn more about the product.

BC: So future versions of games like Modern Combat and Battlefield could feature an all-woman team...

AD: It's possible - as long as the makers take care they don't dress them up in pink camouflage and send them into action with pink guns.

So much info, so little time…

‘Technology has to be blamed for the fact that we’re suffering from information overload,’ claims an old-timer.

BC: Hi,did you get your newspaper this morning?

AD: I wouldn't know, I get all my news online...

BC: How do you manage to keep track? There's such an overdose of news and articles on the net - it becomes so difficult to find your way through that maze, figure out which ones you want to read and...

AD: I don’t think it’s all that complicated…

BC: A newspaper has 20-odd pages and each page has a finite number of articles and news items - isn't it easier to follow them than have a million websites report the same incident in different ways?

AD: You need to install a couple of filters to make your life easy - one is to your computer, to help you be selective about what you read. And the other is to your mind, to stay focussed and not vacillate between various sites...

BC: But why complicate things in the first place? Technology was brought in to simplify life, but...

AD: Here we go again. It's pretty simple actually, as long as you know what to look for and where to look for it.

BC: You’re trivialising the problem…

AD: I don't understand why you're blaming technology for it. Hasn't information overload been bandied about as the bane of civilisation ever since the printing press came into existence?

BC: C'mon, you can't compare a few hundred books to an unending barrage of information online. Even social media has become a source of news - there are so many 'relevant' news items that are begging for your attention. And the ones that you miss out on are purposefully forwarded to you by friends and contacts – a host of sites like Mashable, Pinterest, Tumblr, Twitter, Digg and Facebook are more than willing to bring it to your laptop or mobile.

AD: You should learn to ignore most of them, especially those awful forwards in the 'self-help' and 'how to' categories...

BC: They're the ones that people just can't resist and so they end up loading themselves with information on everything from how to practice yoga at a fast-food joint to a thousand selfie poses to try out and post online before you die…

AD: But there’s a positive side to all this…

BC: The problem is that there is no balance. The pendulum has swung from a dearth of information to a surfeit of it…

AD: It's about prioritising...

BC: And what about spam? Think of all the mail you get from dubious sources that clog your inbox - and think of the time you spend in clearing it, day after day.

AD: Isn't that why we have spam filters? And why are you harping on the disadvantages of technology? What about the fact that you don't have to wait for the latest news any longer? Everything you want to know is now available at your fingertips…

BC: But I don't need all of that. What'll I do with a million sites telling me about Facebook buying Whatsapp, for instance? I need just one source of news to explain the deal to me...

AD: It's not about how much information you find - it's about knowing where to find information when you need it. That's the reason why search engines exist - and just because Google throws up a billion results doesn't mean you hare off checking out all of them...

BC: What about the health problems associated with information overload? Haven't you read about the computer vision syndrome, which affects those who stare at their screen for long durations?

AD: Scientists have come up with a brain scanner that can detect when an individual goes into information overload. Apparently, it's like a headband and is worn by the user...

BC: Look what technology has reduced us to...

AD: What do you mean?

BC: Until recently, a scanner was a peripheral connected to a computer. Now, thanks to information overload, even human beings sit attached to scanners.