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Barbie Computer Engineer
- mootothemax 17y agoVery interesting, although I'm not sure what to make of her glasses; are they, like, so geek-chic-coolacious?
- roundsquare 17y agoIts strange, they need to strike a balance. On one side, they need to use enough stereotypes to ensure that everyone gets the idea they are going for. On the other hand, if they use too many stereotypes they will get angry letters. I'm not sure they have struck the balance correctly, but my guess is that is what they are going for.
- jacquesm 17y agoSo, what exactly is it that is stereotypically computer engineer about this doll? I've known and know quite a few females that program (and some of them are extremely good) but none would be caught dead in an outfit like that, or would think they are 'computer engineers' because they can hold a netbook in one hand without dropping it. It's just plain silly to associate this doll with the computer engineer / programming profession. When trade shows were still in fashion though, you could meet any number of women on the various stands that would come pretty close, but they weren't there for their computer skills. Just about the only interesting thing about this is that there was some build-up to the release using polls, but surprise, surprise, lets hope they were not as rigged as the customer reviews of items that aren't shipping yet.
- roundsquare 17y agoSure, anyone in the know wouldn't associate this with computer engineers. Hell, most adults probably wouldn't either. Kids, however, are far more likely to associate glasses with geeky/interested in geeky stuff. You can't use your position both as an adult and someone in the tech industry and apply it here. It just doesn't fit.
- shmichael 17y agoAnd Ken is renamed Paul?
- jrockway 17y agoBeing a computer engineer is a choking hazard?
- marcus 17y agoLast time I saw the 40 something pages of specs/requirements docs I had to fill to write a 50 LOC program in a big corp, I almost choked.
- adnam 17y agoThe bytes on the screen spell out: "BarbieBarbieBarbie" :-)
- frou_dh 17y agoWhat does "computer engineer" even mean?
- roundsquare 17y agohttp://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=Computer+Engineer http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=Computer+Engineer
- frou_dh 17y agoWikipedia tells me she could be doing virtually anything involving electronics or computers. The BBC seems to think it's tech support: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8517097.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8517097.stm
- jbrun 17y agoWas this not the product of some sort of poll where people voted for the next barbie? I remember seeing it on HN.
- wisty 17y agoYes. Remember Eric Sink's post about how geeks (like himself) are over-represented on the internet? He pointed out how he had a higher google rank than Eric Clapton, and the number one hit for "Joel" is a well-known developer in New York rather than Billy Joel - http://www.ericsink.com/articles/Boundaries.html http://www.ericsink.com/articles/Boundaries.html That poll was Dugg, Slashdotted, and Reddited. It was a foregone conclusion - Barbie would be a "computer engineer", dammit. The only careers that would have gotten more votes would have been "Ship's mechanic on a Firefly class spaceship" or "vampire slayer".
- ytilibitapmoc 17y agoIf only we were not limited to one up-vote; you sir, would be a very karma rich man.
- forsaken 17y agoGo back to reddit, please.
- jgrahamc 17y agoWow. It's amazing, she looks just like every women engineer I've ever worked with. Especially the Bluetooth headset. Seriously, does this do anything to advance the position of women in software engineering?
- ugh 17y agoI wouldn’t worry, other careers aren’t doing that much better :) http://shop.mattel.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3882807 http://shop.mattel.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3882807
- wynand 17y agoNothing would do more for women in engineering than having more well known female engineers. Social proof is a strong thing. But until we have more of that, cultural items like Barbie might help to bootstrap the process. I agree that it's a distant second, but it's better than nothing at all.
- jgrahamc 17y agoI agree that it's a distant second, but it's better than nothing at all. I'm not sure. Suppose the situation was reversed and there were few men software engineers. I'm not sure having a super handsome, muscle ripped man wearing designer clothing would have been an inspiration to me.
- dgabriel 17y agoRight, but a cartoon about an action hero nurse who goes on exciting adventures might open you to the possibility that this was a career for men, too.
- roundsquare 17y agoAt the risk of sounding sexist, different things would appeal to little girls and little boys. Your analogy is too exact, which is what is causing the difficulty. Not to say this will inspire little girls, I have no idea at all.
- 17y ago
- jacquesm 17y agoI must be hallucinating, an article about barbies as the top submission on HN.
- mtrimpe 17y agoOnly ships to US. Damn I hate that ... anyone willing to receive and forward some barbies?
- miri 17y agoIf I ever get a female child that is smitten by the scourge called Barbie (oh please, O [Insert Deity Here], make her a Lego child), I'll at least give her one like these so she can have an Engineer Barbie (oh, the bragging potential, "My Mum is a computer engineer just like Barbie!"). Not that my grandmother's misguided attempts at girlifying me with Pink Mermaid Barbie ever worked, anyway.
- akd 17y agoO, Thor? :)