From Mrs. Doubtwire to Techs in the City: Regina Lewis tells us what wired women want

For those of you who think techno-gadgetry is a man’s domain, think again. The average woman owns five electronic gadgets, according to a CBS report about how women approach technology.

And lest you think classifying tech users into cute, condescendingly termed demographic niches is also solely a male pursuit, think again there too. For the Saturday Early Show segment about women and technology, CBS talked to AOL’s trend-spotter, Regina Lewis, for insight into what wired women want. Lewis breaks the gender into three groups and gives each its own punny label:

First, there’s Mrs. Doubtwire. This is not a male posing as a female in an AOL chat room. The Mrs. Doubtwires of the world are “a little slow to warm up to technology,” Lewis says on her blog. They’re focused mainly on “doing the email thing and maybe a little web surfing, but not much more.” But as “the family memory keepers,” the Mrs. Doubtwires are likely to purchase digital cameras.

Next comes the pragmatechs, the “more career-focused and more tech-savvy” women. “The key for this group of users is functionality. How will the device make their life better, easier, more productive? One thing tech companies are finding out — if you’re going to appeal to this crowd — you have to do more than make a product in pink or candy apple red.”

Finally, there’s the group Lewis calls — brace yourselves — Techs in the City. These are “the tech trendsetters” who see gadgets as fashion accessories. “The ‘cute’ or ‘cool’ factor plays a very big role with them,” Lewis writes. “Tech gadgets are as much something they wear as something they use.” In addition, these users “are big into text messaging and social-networking — think Myspace.”

So, there you have it: tech-savvy women fit into three neat categories.

Author: andrewcareaga

Former higher ed PR and marketing guy at Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) now focused on freelance writing and editing and creative writing, fiction and non-fiction. View all posts by andrewcareaga