“The next company to create software products specifically for women is the next company everyone will follow...” -- Don Tapscott,
one of Canada's most prominent IT/business strategists, in a keynote address at E3, Los Angeles.
| What a Girl Wants ... |
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Websites. This is the closest I seem to come.
There are lots of websites where we talk and celebrate and grouse about being a woman. Websites that want to sell us stuff. Websites that attempt to connect us, but still seem more like magazines than a real effort to help us connect and thrive. It's not enough.
Perhaps my inability to be specific about what it was that I actually expected to find is, in itself, a clue. Maybe there's no need for software for women? Maybe gender equity/the divide was the problem we'd tried to solve, and had? But I can't help but feel ripped-off. Afterall, my daughter has software choices that are her own, and not meant to be shared with boys. There's Barbie (as much as I dislike her prolonged journey to catch-up), and Nancy Drew (who I always felt raised the bar). These are her things, and there's lots more where they came from. Special diaries, and gear, and lots and lots of truly cool "girl stuff". I feel left out of the club, because I'm grown up.
Software for big girls. Software for women. I have to believe it's out there somewhere, even if it's just on the "to do" list of some big developer with a whole lot of cash to make it so. |
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| Surely Someone Else Has Thought of This ??? |
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There have been attempts, and I am curious to know why they failed.
Back in April of 1999 there was an announcement that a Los Angeles software maker named DogByte Development planned to tap the growing women's market by creating a category of software titles just for us. The venture was called "HerSoft," and was intended to be the first in a series of efforts by the software industry to target women, as research revealed more about our computing habits and agendas. DogByte partnered with the popular women's website, iVillage, to gain a better understanding of women, and a marketing edge.
By September of '99 they had launched their first titles, but both DogByte and HerSoft seem to have disappeared (HerSoft's titles are all now discontinued at Amazon and other software outlets, and there are barely 20 references to them in a general search engine query, with the DogByte website now leading to a vicious, sticky, spyware-laden mess of pop-up screens from it's new owner), and I find myself wondering why the venture never worked. Could HerSoft's evapouration be due to the fact that it's president, Mark Wong, was a guy? Okay, so the HerSoft division was headed by Debra Wong, a girl, but this is where I get curious: the division's charter was to research the creative interests of women and develop a line of software products targeting women's interests such as crafts, home decorating and baby products.
That's where I flinch: that we seemed to have been reduced to our ability to make pretty stuff, keep a home, and buy stuff for our kids. At the risk of alienating a lot of women that truly do enjoy these things -- and I do too -- I'm still left feeling like I'm stuck in some fifties time warp wearing a flaired skirt, with a bobbed hair cut, and greeting my hard-working husband at the door with a really swell Martini at the end of the day.
There was a time when women weren't even recognized as "persons" in the eyes of our country and it's laws, but how was it that, in the struggle to gain equal rights, we felt like we had to deny or apologize for the fact that we actually are different than men? It's a good thing. A great thing. A thing worth celebrating. A thing worth it's own distinct brand of software.
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“Niche technology can be very profitable, says Joe Katzman, a senior consultant with KPMG in Toronto. At the very least, niche marketing is an excellent place to start. Instead of trying to please an entire industry, choose one sector. Once that sector has been captured, it is possible to grow into other sectors.” -- Chris Talbot, Silicon Valley North, Marketing to the Next Wave of Niche Markets, March 2000.
“I think the next wave is going to be niche market companies focused on specific groups, whether it be ethnic groups or women. I think there’s a huge potential for niche market type companies.” -- Warren Salmon, CEO of Toronto’s Black Board International.
| So Now What? -- Unleashing the Estrogen Army |
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Maybe the notion that it's up to some big developer with lots of cash to get interested and make it so is just plain wrong. Maybe it's up to regular, everyday women like me to figure out what the heck it is we really want, what we feel passionate about growing into and celebrating, and simply find a place to start.
So I put this to you, my fellow click chicks, and ask you this: should there be software for women? and, what should it be? What should it do for us? Look like? Feel like? Sound like? (click here to share your thoughts in today's forum).
At some basic level, an instinct if you will, I believe this is an important dialogue to nurture. It's this instinct that leads me to create an "incubator", a place where I can invite other women to explore, to brainstorm, to be inspired and to act on impulses, to be supported and heard. There are so many women I admire, and I can't help but think they have something to say that needs to be heard. There are women right here in Canada who have tried, and failed, and are trying again. My bet's on Anne-Marie Huurre, founder of Toronto’s Skywriter Communications Inc., who went out on a limb with a PC game aimed at women, under the brand "Women Wise". While the game failed, Huurre's back in the saddle, recognizing the relevance of the women's market. She admits that women have been largely ignored by software producers, which means the retail avenues just aren't there, but feels the timing is right now, and is actively engaging women in the process of shaping Women Wise's future.
Perhaps in the end I will come back to where I started: the discovery that someone else thought there was a need, a market, a kernel of possibilty, and there was not. But I can't help thinking that I won't be disappointed at all, and if the dialogue and the journey is all that remains, it will be so worth having taken!
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| Other Shows About Girls and Computers ... |
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Windsor's "FastChicks" Use Computers to Start a New Career & a New Life at 40
Monday, May 6, 2002
Meet Jackie Raymond and Donna Bilodeau, and find out how computers helped shape a new career at 40.
It's a Girl Thing
Monday, September 9, 2002
Think fast: computers, a girl or a boy thing? If you're like most people, when you think about computers and kids, you think about games, and you think about boys.
One of my favourite examples to share is Jennifer Corriero, a young Canadian woman who co-founded TakingITGlobal (www.takingitglobal.com) as a means of reaching and motivating youth.
UP AND COMING ...
Expect to hear more about IBM's digital diva, Julie Parkyn, and the "Women in Technology" program she helped launch in Windsor-Essex. Julie and fellow mentors go into local schools and give girls some terrific reasons to get interested in technology. These active role models are out to make a difference in the lives of kids, nurturing future women in technology.
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SOFTWARE RECOMMENDATIONS ... THIS WEEK'S PICKS
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FOR GIRLS ...
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Nancy Drew: The Haunted Carousel
(by Her Interactive)
$29.99
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Barbie Creativity Games Pack
(by Vivendi Universal Interactive)
$24.99
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Nancy Drew: Danger on Deception Island
(by Her Interactive)
$29.99
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FOR BIGGER GIRLS ...
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The Legend of Lotus Spring
by Women Wise
The Legend of Lotus Spring™ is an adventure story based on a romance that happened over 100 years ago. Historians have worked with Women Wise's developers to recreate the Garden of Perfect Brightness, an 800-acre, secret hideaway for the privileged elite outside of Beijing. The romance involves a ruling emperor and the women he loves, until she tragically disappears.
Throughout the adventure you travel within the garden and collect objects central to the story. Beautiful animations and eye candy occur among detailed and colorful graphic representations of the buildings and art, all surrounding the once existing turquoise lotus pond in the recreated Garden of Perfect Brightness. As the story unfolds, a Diary fills with the poems and mysteries of the forbidden romance, along with accounts of interesting rituals of goddess worship, courtship, and Chinese legends.
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Living Gardens Screen Saver
by RI Soft Systems (for Windows 9x/NT/2000/ME/XP)
Free Version | also full version for $ 14.95
Snow be gone! It's time to bring on a little spring with Living Gardens, visiting the English Garden, the Backyard Pond, and the Garden Fountain. Flowers blossom before your eyes. Each scene encompasses lively animations that include birds, butterflies, chipmunks, turtles, and fish. The classical style music and ambient sounds add to the relaxing effect of this latest installment in the "Living" series.
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Want to know what software recommendations I made during my last show?
Click here for my picks.
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You Recommended ...
Have a favourite computer tool that you'd like to recommend? Perhaps you've come across a great piece of software that would be of interest to other listeners. Drop into the "You Recommended" listener forum and tell us about it ...
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Honouring Women Across Canada and Around the Globe ...
gentle listener :)
This show was originally scheduled to air two weeks ago, on February 8th -- International Women's Day. On my way to the studio I got a call telling me that my grandmother had just past away. It was about this time last year when I lost my mom -- her daughter -- to cancer, and I couldn't help but feel the irony at the passing of two powerful women, and in this case, the timing.
This day was set aside in the 70's to recognize the power and contributions of women globally.
While it's no longer International Women's Day by the time this show airs, the month of March is still Women's Month, and regardless of any label or designation that a calendar may offer, the content is so very relevant.
At a time when the I.T. industry dominates such a large portion of our economic development in Canada, it's more important than ever to nurture the development of our daughters as future stakeholders in the sector. Yet we continue to see the disparity in our classrooms, and in our boardrooms. When looking at the results of even local testing in the maths and sciences, provincial indicators show that girls both perform at a lower standard and enjoy these subjects less than boys by almost 60%.
Gender equity is more than a buzz word; it's an important measure of our wellbeing within our community. We want the same bright and healthy outcomes for our daughters as we do for our sons, and yet, in the year 2004, there is still a significant gap.
My choice to do a feature covering "software for women" began as a quest to showcase some of the better examples that I was sure I would find, and yet I came up virtually empty handed on anything touching non-traditional roles or content. I talked to my producer and friend, Denise Kristof, sure I could find something other than virtual make-overs and pregnancy calculators, but in the end, I think I found a better story to tell: there's not much there.
I could have looked at this in disappointment. Instead, I saw a rich opportunity to invite fellow women to talk and explore, and maybe for some of them to forge on into that rift and champion the "market niche" that experts like Don Tapscott and others agree is surely ripe.
While I am always passionate and curious about the things that I cover within the scope of this show, I must admit that this one is so much more personal. You see, like many of you, I have a daughter growing up into the Canadian economy, and it's with genuine sincerity that I tell her that this is one of the very best places to be. Instead of "beware the glass ceiling", I will tell her this:
that "the best way to predict the future is to invent it".
That sentiment has been echoed by business guru, Peter F. Drucker, and Apple computer founder and fellow / Disney Imagineer, Alan Kay. It's on the bottom of every email I send, and something I believe in with all of my heart.
Let's talk ... (click here to share your thoughts in today's forum).
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Call me on the
Edible Computer Hotline
Download "X-Lite" or other virtual phone software and sign-up for Pulver.com's "Free World Dialup" service to call into the Edible Computer Hotline from anywhere in the world, free of charge.
Sue will be available to take your calls after the show between 9:00-10:00 a.m. ET, and again from 7:00-8:00 p.m. ET on the day of the show.
Get a busy signal, or call when she's away from her desk? Leave a message in the Edible Computer voice-mailbox, with your name, the time you called, and the best time to get back to you.
Call FWD # 405558
(or 1-800-callme)
on your virtual phone.
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What Did We Talk About During the Last Few Shows?
Monday, February 23, 2004
VoIP: The End of Long Distance Phone Charges?
How bad was your last phone bill? Most of us would say "too high". With families out of the city, and many of us running small businesses, it's not long before those long distance charges are sky high. While fixed rate plans and stiffer competition have made the market a little more bearable, many Canadians are still shelling out more than they care too. But there's a new cowboy in town, or rather an old one who's suddenly practical: "internet phones".
If you missed this show on Monday, February 23rd, you can still tune in to join computer columnist Sue Braiden as she shares some ideas about this latest trend in consumer computing. Click here for more.
MORE PAST FEATURES ...
Monday, February 9, 2004
Portable Fuel Cells
Monday, January 26, 2004
2004 Guide to Protecting Yourself Online
Monday, January 12th, 2004
Using Your Computer to Help You Stick to those New Year's Resolutions!
Monday, December 29th, 2003
Using Your Computer to Make a Music Video
Monday, December 15th, 2003
A Very Apple Christmas
with special guest Paul Rousseau
of the AppleSPICE group
homepage.mac.com/applespicemug
Monday, December 1, 2003
Hollywood-in-a-Box
with special guest Gavin Booth
listen to show in Streaming Audio:
 Hi-Fi (DSL/Cable modems)
Lo-Fi (dial-up modems)
Monday, November 17, 2003
CitiStat: A Chance for Citizens to Tap Into Public Service from their Home Computer?
Monday, November 3, 2003
Turning Your Knowledge Into Cash: Are You the Next Online Professor?
Monday, October 20, 2003
Flash Mobs ... Social menace or future champion of collective community action?
For even more great topics, scroll down to the bottom of this page, and click on the pull-down menu to access the archives.
GREAT CANADIAN NET STOPS
Women Wise
www.women-wise.com
Women Wise™ is dedicated to creating new media entertainment and games for women and teen girls with a female perspective.
Women Wise™ started as a pilot project with a CD-ROM game and ebook created especially for women and teen girls. They continued asking women through their web site survey, and in alliance with other women and teen girl organizations, "what would you like to see in the areas of new media entertainment?" As a result they're expanding their services and scope of entertainment programs to include Interactive TeleClasses, Wireless Services, CD-ROMs and live events.
Women Wise™ profiles talented women - all entrepreneurs and experts in the areas of personal enrichment and professional development.
In their own words: "It’s our cause to encourage women to create and use new media. It’s our contention that if we create more entertainment titles for women and teen girls, then more young women will enter the computer sciences, communications, and games industry, creating even more great new media titles for all of us to enjoy. So we continue our search quality, entertaining content and games."
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A Senior Fights Back
(at the forums)
After my last show a listener dropped by the forums to talk about a petition they were starting. Our listener writes:
| Dalton McGuinty's Liberals will be raising the costs of prescription drugs for seniors. This plan will leave many seniors, many of which are on a fixed income, in a financial bind.
One local MPP, Grey Bruce's Jim Wilson is presenting a petition to The Legislative Assembly of Ontario to stop this plan.
In support of his efforts I have prepared an Online Petition where Ontarians can sign the petition. Once enough signatures are received I will forward the petition to Jim Wilson.
http://www.petitiononline.com/
seniors/petition.html
If you are against raising the cost of prescription drugs for seniors in Ontario I urge you to either sign the petition, contact your local MPP or MPP Jim Wilson's office http://www.jimwilsonmpp.com/"
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Kudos on your digital advocacy, SnowbirdNJP!
Keep in touch and let us know how it goes ...
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