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Because if you put flowers on it and have a matching tote, women will buy it.

Cara

So that image to the left, at first glance just looks like some cute (though not my style) little clutch, tote and scarf set, right?  Well, close, but not quite.

Actually, it’s a laptop. A laptop made to look like a clutch purse.  A “digital clutch.”  And yes, it does actually come with the scarf and bag.  Well, if you’re willing to pay $200 extra.

I’m not even offended.  I’m just fucking bemused.

I just bought a laptop, too.  Funny, that while I did want something lightweight, I also wanted something that was easy to read, was relatively inexpensive and worked well.  I didn’t even consider the overall aesthetic value of the laptop and whether I could get away with passing it off as a clutch handbag to my ever jealous female friends.  The ovaries must have been busted that day.

Title yanked from email tip by reader Kristen. Thanks Kristen!

34 thoughts on Because if you put flowers on it and have a matching tote, women will buy it.

  1. I actually like it. Couldn’t give a rat about a matching scarf though, and no way I’d buy it if it wasn’t up to spec.
    Most are such boring colors.
    The colored things that really piss me off though are the pink flowered ‘tool packs’ with stupid little hammers and non-functional pliers. For f*ks sake !!!

  2. I’m not even offended. I’m just fucking bemused.

    If that decoration on the laptop’s exterior is cloth-based…..you may also be amused by the greater potential for overheating problems. Cloth is such a wonderful insulator….not a good thing when most modern computers, including laptops use processors and graphics chips which generate a lot of heat……

    Also, unless you’re working in an artistic/creative type industry….it comes across as a bit to garish of a design….especially to the corporate suits…..

    HP may want to consider taking a page from Apple’s colored Imac campaign of the late 1990s till 2003……

  3. While not overly offensive it is extremely ugly. Clearly someone did not consult with a fashion designer and just went with the whole oooh flowers and pink that will draw in the ovaries line of thought.

  4. I bet a guy might think twice before trying to steal it…unless he’s really in touch with his feminine side.

    (And, I hate to say it, but I actually like it. But then, I bought a bright orange iBook when they first came out, so there’s no accounting for taste.)

  5. Actually, one of the things that irritated the shit out of me about the ad in particular is that if you read it…it doesn’t list the specs of the device. I mean seriously. No mention of the processor or the harddrive or the display. Ridiculousness.

    If you want something attractive, powerful and small there’s always the Sony Vaio P which comes in a bunch of different colors. Or my Everun Note which is currently in the shop…but is just lovely in white AND has a touchscreen.

  6. It’s not cloth-based, fortunately. It’s a type of painting that gets done while the plastic case is moulded, applying a film of paint onto the plastic. Laptops I’ve seen with this kind of thing tend to get scuffed up pretty quick, but I guess that’s why they give you a silk sleeve. $200 for matching accessories though? I guess Vivienne Tam wanted an extra selling opportunity, huh. And the idea of passing it off as a clutch is just kind of silly. That picture makes it look like she’s going to drop it.

    There are a bunch of designs for people who want nicer-looking laptops (HP has a whole range of other designs, most of which are more subtle, and other laptop manufacturers make much bolder / prettier ones) but I guess it was only a matter of time before brand names got into the game.

    Custom laptop makers have been doing this stuff for years, and there are some truly hideous airbrushed designs out there, just like there are for say… car hoods.

    I prefer to put my computer $$ into better components that will last longer without breaking down and last longer in terms of performance for newer software, so I bought an “off-brand” laptop made by one of the taiwanese companies that does all the actual manufacturing of laptop components and then sells them to HP and Dell and Gateway etc. to resell to consumers. It’s better to shop wholesale! (Or, as wholesale as possible.) So I’m the proud owner of a Compal JHL90, which starts at around the same price as that HP faux-clutch-purse laptop, but is about twice as powerful and durable.

  7. But then, I bought a bright orange iBook when they first came out, so there’s no accounting for taste.)

    The orange ibooks are far better IMHO than this garish design.

    I’m with Holly in terms of preferring more durability and performance for the money if I was paying for a computer.

    On the other hand, if I happen to find an aesthetically pleasing computer like the Indigo imac I found in the winter cold last February….I won’t hesitate to take it so it can double as both a functional computer and a fine example of late 20th century/early 21st century modern art. 😉

  8. Wow, the specs are actually pretty crappy. 60 GB hard drive, 1 GB RAM (and no expansion slots), no bluetooth or mobile broadband. By specs, it’s exactly the same as the lowest-end mini PC HP sells.

    But the version with the hideous floral desigh costs twice as much.

  9. I’d like my laptop to have an interesting pattern on it, particularly in case it gets stolen. 😐 But that design is kindda hideous. And the “matching tote and scarf” just seems patronizing.

    Didn’t they try this with cars or something? Like, “Hey, let’s sell this to women. How do we do that? Oh, make it a feminine color and sell a matching purse.” Yeah, that idea bombed. I guess if you can’t be bothered to find out what real women actually want, though, you won’t be bothered to look at other companies’ successes and failures.

  10. I like the design, but it doesn’t seem like a quality laptop. Besides, instead of buying a really expensive and pretty laptop, you could just buy a durable and decorative case to put your laptop in.

  12. Sony actually does sell laptop with strong aethetic considerations like having exclusive artwork on it.

    However, VAIO is a dog. Good specs, not good reliability.

  13. From a practical perspective, I would never buy a laptop or any other high-dollar item with that kind of design on it just because I might get tired of the design. I expect my laptop to last longer than that. I guess if you can afford to change laptops every couple weeks it’s fine, but that’s not how I roll. Also, ThickRedGlasses is right, there are plenty good cases you can put on a laptop that will both protect and decorate it.

    Aside from all that, who really wants to match their scarf with their laptop? A laptop is a tool, not part of your outfit imo.

  14. Wow, the specs are actually pretty crappy. 60 GB hard drive, 1 GB RAM (and no expansion slots), no bluetooth or mobile broadband. By specs, it’s exactly the same as the lowest-end mini PC HP sells.

    Computers with those kinds of specs are not too far removed from the computers clients, relatives, and even the sidewalk trash dumps have dumped on/yielded to me.

    Those specs would have been great 3-4 years ago. Nowadays, that’s too limiting…especially considering the fact that Microsoft has been trying to end support for XP at least twice and the upcoming Windows 7 is going to require at least 512 MB – 1 GB of RAM….if not more judging by the beta I’ve installed on an old machine with that exact amount of RAM.

    Paying double the ripoff prices for yesterday’s specs isn’t the best use of one’s tech dollars…..

    However, VAIO is a dog. Good specs, not good reliability.

    Shah8,

    I could have told you that back in the late 1990s. When I heard how much a fellow summer school classmate was paying for a Vaio, I was thinking “Dude’s got taken to the cleaners because he’s got Sony on the brains….”

  15. But Shah8,

    The Vaio P is so teeny…if I weren’t in love with my Everun note I would have bought that.

    Someday they’ll be able to implant a computer into your brain and I will be one of the crazy ass early adopters…

  16. Okay I have to get into this even if it makes me feel a little dirty, because I think it’s interesting and because I’m thinking about it. Full disclosure, HP gave me one of these just yesterday, so that I could not only try it and review it but so that I would give feedback to them (including marketing feedback). So I’m taking notes on my own reactions to the computer and to its campaign so I can write a review.

    I had the same reaction about the specs and that they should be more prominent. If you click on “buy” you get the full specs.

    The case is a normal computer shell, hard plastic, not cloth.

    I’m with you in being conflicted over the “pink tools” thing as a feminist. I’m a bit conflicted about femminess and my expression of it, in general, which makes me glad they picked me to review it. I don’t even have a handbag. I have a tattered old backpack and I wear jeans all the time. Here, I’m feeling like it’s a functional computer, not something mediocre that’s been colored pink. (Actually, it’s red…)

    I used it all day today and it’s a decent computer. I named it “Butch” and

    I think there is interesting stuff to talk about here in that a lot of women use decorative stuff as self expression. I guess I’d like to put in a cautionary note not to assume femmy = ditzy or non-geeky or victim of marketing.

    I have some thoughts on the way that it is framed as a desirable thing to have because other women will envy you because it’s pretty. I wonder about that and it bothers me. But I also enjoyed it a bit that other people are reacting to it like “Ooo, pretty, I want that”. Is that so bad?

    Might it not open up a little more of an assumption that women buy computers and might like them to be, well… adorable?

  17. What I don’t get is why nobody seems to think a man might want a cute floral laptop. Cause, fuck, I do.

    I might spraypaint some damask on my MacBook…..

  18. I would really want that laptop, if it didn’t seem like it was subpar on the technology front. The tote bag and scarf I could do without. The more things in my life that cna be festive and brightly colored, the better, I say.

  19. The fact is that there are a lot of women out there who are asking for exactly this sort of notebook (and even more for the clichéd pink notebooks). With the coating technology used in this model (it’s a very durable coating called IMR which allows vaporised metal to be included as well as patterned paint for apparent depth) the notebook manufacturers are really starting to make notebooks which meet their customers’ demands. Notebooks are going the way of mobile phones and personalisation is key!

    I used to work for a competitor of HP and was heavily involved in the new products. It was fascinating doing consumer research, including face to face sessions, and I was amazed to watch the clichés be proved. Most of the men got excited about black and metallic notebooks with chunky, aggressive features. Most of the women liked sleek notebooks with a range of colours with white being a favourite and pinks being polarising, but with a good 40-50% liking them.

    We did this across the world and it would make a fascinating thesis in gender reactions to style and colours across different cultures!

  20. BlueEyedGal beat me to the Gelaskins. Practical, colorful, made for a wide variety of laptops, and changeable, which is great. I want one, but when your laptop is as old as mine, you fear buying fripperies for it will jinx its health.

  21. I actually think there could be a market for really eyecatching laptops, but this attempt is way off. First, drop the gendered marketing and the stupid accessories — I could see guys buying this kind of thing, if it didn’t have “women only, and dumb ones at that” written across it. I mean, the front page of the ad doesn’t even say anything about the specs — the closest it comes is mentioning something about how it does “everyday tasks”. Ooh, that inspires confidence. Second, make it a decent computer. If you click through to the actual specs, it lists 1 GB of ram. That’s a bit weak, even for a superslim notebook.

    The Gelaskins are probably a better way to go about it.

  22. I actually think there could be a market for really eyecatching laptops, but this attempt is way off.

    Apple proved that in the late 1990s and early 2000s with their line of color Imacs and ibooks….especially when they started offering them in a dizzying array of colors and designs (i.e. Flower Power). Though I am not usually partial to Red, Orange, or Purple, I would not have minded having iMacs in those colors if they were dumped on me or I happened to find them abandoned on the street.

    Then again, I’m not exactly the paragon of taste as I actually would LOVE to add a Lime green colored imac….a color even most die-hard mac fans find disgusting. 🙂

  23. The specs look definitely awful. That’s the weird thing about these marketers: do they not think, ‘hey, maybe women also want powerful computers alongside really neat designs?’ or do they all assume that women don’t care about specs as much as men do? It’s just as patronizing as being ignored by the staff at a computer store, simply because you’re a girl even though you’ve done all the research.

    Also, that design ain’t got nothing on the Pink Hello Kitty Laptop.

  24. @Jha The specs look definitely awful.

    They just did low specs to get a decent price point for the advert. It can be built to order once you hit the “Buy” button and the specs can be changed to meet your needs. Most of the manufacturers down-spec style-notebooks to get a lower price point for the advert. An awful lot of the buyers of these notebooks are buying for the style primarily and the specs are a secondary consideration.

  26. They just did low specs to get a decent price point for the advert. It can be built to order once you hit the “Buy” button and the specs can be changed to meet your needs.

    Except… you can’t. Try customizing it. The only options you can add are a Bluetooth card and a DVD-RW drive (the base price doesn’t even include a CD drive). There’s no way to change the processor, amount of memory, graphics card, or hard drive that this thing comes with, and it’s kind of a ripoff unless you really NEED this particular form factor. I suspect the tiny shape is why there are no components that can be swapped out, but it’s still kind of strange. I mean, they’re using a type of hard drive that only comes in one size? Or they just don’t think it’s important to offer customers who buy this laptop a choice of components?

    This isn’t really the best way to get a pretty laptop. As people have pointed out, there are already a lot of options for this, from the major manufacturers as well as independent companies, and a lot of those have a variety of colors, floral designs, etc. If you ask me, this product has to do with a name-brand fashion tie-in, expensive cloth accessories (that’s the “customization” option that’s really being pushed) and pushing a cheap set of components onto women who don’t really know or care about performance for price.

    I am one of the go-to people in my extended family for advice on which computer to buy, as I suspect plenty of the other tech-nerdy types around here are. This laptop gets a resounding “nooooo” from me. But it does make me think I should make sure I have a list of other cool-looking customizable laptops that I can offer as an alternative, since the skinning is really appealing. In fact I think I might go buy a Gelaskin right now myself.

  27. I think if I ever get a laptop, I’ll decorate it myself. Then again, how about a matching gun? Or maybe I could paint that too…

  28. Eh, it looks to me like the logical next step to all those silly looking iMacs that they’ve been making for the last ten years or so. There are a certain anount of people that will buy a computer just because it’s cute, as Apple proved, and HP obviously wants in to that market segment.

    Personally, I prefer a more utilitarian look, but, whatever floats peoples boats, I guess. They wouldn’t do it if they didn’t think there was a market for it.

  30. The laptop is pretty. The scarf and bag are just dumb.

    I note though, that the only information the page has is:

    “So light! So pretty! So stylish!”

    Really, how pretty a laptop this happens to be is second, in my mind, to how much memory it has, hard drive size, processor speed, an explanation for the complete lack of ANY USB ports as far as I can see… I mean, what would you use this thing for?

  31. I kinda like it, though I doubt I’d ever buy it. Technical specs are too important. I’ll take a high-end dull-looking laptop over a cute low-end one any day. I’m happy to see more personalisation in laptops though. We use these things every day. Why shouldn’t they be pleasing to the eye?

  32. If the specs were competitive, I’d be interested. I like the design; it reminds me of a lot of Anna Maria Garthwaite’s designs, and I love those. I don’t see why something functional can’t be attractive as well, regardless of the gender of the consumer.

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