7 ms·

Samsung GS4 launch: Tone-deaf and shockingly sexist

13 points by cooldeal 14y ago

cooldeal 14y ago
Well, at least they had some women on stage, unlike the PS4 launch event. http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/21/4013500/no-women-onstage-at-Sony-PS4-event-game-industry-feminism http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/21/4013500/no-women-onstage-a...
seivan 14y ago
Honestly, a company that doesn't innovate, doesn't treat its talent right, and is run by suits who mass produce junk. Don't expect them to have any taste what so ever.
- neya 14y ago
  >Honestly, a company that doesn't innovate Go flame elsewhere, troll. I bet even the displays of your LCD/LED Tv's in the hall and your laptop were made by this very same company. And they're perhaps one of the most innovative companies in the world when it comes to displays. And not just displays - Memory, SSD's, Processors (which even Apple uses)..etc. Atleast, they exercise true innovation - Genuinely inventing something, instead of just patenting rounded corners and suing people for it.
  - pavanky 14y ago
    Well that is what you get for going against the hivemind of hacker news. Sometimes we just need to sit back and let a few people have their bit of drama.
  - rimantas 14y ago
    Yeah, all Apple ever made was rounded corners.
- soperj 14y ago
  How do they not innovate? They make the best ssd on the market(840 pro) -their regular 840's are the first commercial ssds to use tlc nand - and some of the best display panels in the business. Apple uses displays made by samsung, and processors made by samsung, as well as ram made by samsung in their phones.
  - Geee 14y ago
    Samsung does commodity microelectronics manufacturing. I don't know of any technology that Samsung can uniquely provide. Apple can switch manufacturers in a heart beat. Do you think that Foxconn does Apple's design innovation?
    - soperj 14y ago
      Can you name a technology that anyone can uniquely provide? Just because they aren't the only ones doing it doesn't mean they aren't innovating. They're the best at certain things for a reason(because they're innovating). Apple can't switch in a heartbeat, or they would have already.
- allspark 14y ago
  Check out the top patent assignees from last year http://ificlaims.com/index.php?page=misc_top_50_2012 http://ificlaims.com/index.php?page=misc_top_50_2012
flexxaeon 14y ago
tl;dr > Shut up and make me a phone. Exactly.
thomasbk 14y ago
The video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6GRFKWGn1k http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6GRFKWGn1k
epmatsw 14y ago
Man, I need to remember to not read the comments on other websites. They're just horrifying...
k-mcgrady 14y ago
According to the second paragraph every actor they had played a stereotypical character. In other words they didn't single out women and make fun of them, it was part of a skit in which they made fun of a variety of people. I didn't see the event but it doesn't sound to me like they were being sexist. Edit: after watching a few clips it seems like a really cheesy presentation, I didn't see any blatant sexism. >> "The Brazilian woman was hot" So? It really seems like the author has read far too much into this. I presume the Brazilian woman was demoing a feature of the phone. Should Samsung have discriminated against her based on her appearance and chosen someone less attractive? There are many problems women face in the tech world which need to be fixed but this is a poor attempt at turning a non-story into something bigger.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- arrrg 14y ago
  Uhm, presenting stereotypes is sexist. They might also have been racist or whatever, but two wrongs don’t make a right.
omonra 14y ago
I wasn't going to upgrade to S4, but now that I read this rant, makes me want to go and get one. Every week some columnist gets on a soapbox and drones about how they are offended. Just read a good blog post about it: http://falkenblog.blogspot.fr/2013/03/taking-offense-is-not-righteous.html http://falkenblog.blogspot.fr/2013/03/taking-offense-is-not-... "Curiously, a former definition of impoliteness has become a new focal point for all sorts of political and psychological offense. I remember Miss Manners noting that politeness has two, related, sides: not giving or taking unintentional offense. That's clearly old school. There seems to be a public bounty for perceiving slights, and lots of columnists are full-time commentators noting the latest injustice to their tribe. There's a website called MicroAggressions documenting slights felt by people who don't appreciate the guy who opened or failed to open the door for them. Interestingly, the more they talk about things, the more people get upset by people getting upset ad infinitum."
ChuckMcM 14y ago
Interesting. I find the "I'm so offended" rants or the "What just happened?" rants rather amusing. It's easy to pick something to be offended by, but why is that the lede? Would talking about the phone be too dangerous? I don't know, it reminds me of drama for drama's sake. I found their skits contrived, I wondered if this was how Koreans saw American Culture, I reminded myself that Psy got the YouTube page view record with Gangnam Style. But mostly I was trying to hear how they felt their design choices added value in the phone. Some I found compelling (like picture insets, translation) and others sort of ho-hum (like storybooking) but it didn't bother me that they all had midwestern accents or anything.

13 points by cooldeal 14y ago

Well, at least they had some women on stage, unlike the PS4 launch event. http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/21/4013500/no-women-onstage-at-Sony-PS4-event-game-industry-feminism http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/21/4013500/no-women-onstage-a...

seivan 14y ago

Honestly, a company that doesn't innovate, doesn't treat its talent right, and is run by suits who mass produce junk. Don't expect them to have any taste what so ever.

neya 14y ago
>Honestly, a company that doesn't innovate Go flame elsewhere, troll. I bet even the displays of your LCD/LED Tv's in the hall and your laptop were made by this very same company. And they're perhaps one of the most innovative companies in the world when it comes to displays. And not just displays - Memory, SSD's, Processors (which even Apple uses)..etc. Atleast, they exercise true innovation - Genuinely inventing something, instead of just patenting rounded corners and suing people for it.
- pavanky 14y ago
  Well that is what you get for going against the hivemind of hacker news. Sometimes we just need to sit back and let a few people have their bit of drama.
- rimantas 14y ago
  Yeah, all Apple ever made was rounded corners.
soperj 14y ago
How do they not innovate? They make the best ssd on the market(840 pro) -their regular 840's are the first commercial ssds to use tlc nand - and some of the best display panels in the business. Apple uses displays made by samsung, and processors made by samsung, as well as ram made by samsung in their phones.
- Geee 14y ago
  Samsung does commodity microelectronics manufacturing. I don't know of any technology that Samsung can uniquely provide. Apple can switch manufacturers in a heart beat. Do you think that Foxconn does Apple's design innovation?
  - soperj 14y ago
    Can you name a technology that anyone can uniquely provide? Just because they aren't the only ones doing it doesn't mean they aren't innovating. They're the best at certain things for a reason(because they're innovating). Apple can't switch in a heartbeat, or they would have already.
allspark 14y ago
Check out the top patent assignees from last year http://ificlaims.com/index.php?page=misc_top_50_2012 http://ificlaims.com/index.php?page=misc_top_50_2012

flexxaeon 14y ago

tl;dr > Shut up and make me a phone. Exactly.

thomasbk 14y ago

The video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6GRFKWGn1k http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6GRFKWGn1k

epmatsw 14y ago

Man, I need to remember to not read the comments on other websites. They're just horrifying...

k-mcgrady 14y ago

According to the second paragraph every actor they had played a stereotypical character. In other words they didn't single out women and make fun of them, it was part of a skit in which they made fun of a variety of people. I didn't see the event but it doesn't sound to me like they were being sexist. Edit: after watching a few clips it seems like a really cheesy presentation, I didn't see any blatant sexism. >> "The Brazilian woman was hot" So? It really seems like the author has read far too much into this. I presume the Brazilian woman was demoing a feature of the phone. Should Samsung have discriminated against her based on her appearance and chosen someone less attractive? There are many problems women face in the tech world which need to be fixed but this is a poor attempt at turning a non-story into something bigger.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
arrrg 14y ago
Uhm, presenting stereotypes is sexist. They might also have been racist or whatever, but two wrongs don’t make a right.

omonra 14y ago

I wasn't going to upgrade to S4, but now that I read this rant, makes me want to go and get one. Every week some columnist gets on a soapbox and drones about how they are offended. Just read a good blog post about it: http://falkenblog.blogspot.fr/2013/03/taking-offense-is-not-righteous.html http://falkenblog.blogspot.fr/2013/03/taking-offense-is-not-... "Curiously, a former definition of impoliteness has become a new focal point for all sorts of political and psychological offense. I remember Miss Manners noting that politeness has two, related, sides: not giving or taking unintentional offense. That's clearly old school. There seems to be a public bounty for perceiving slights, and lots of columnists are full-time commentators noting the latest injustice to their tribe. There's a website called MicroAggressions documenting slights felt by people who don't appreciate the guy who opened or failed to open the door for them. Interestingly, the more they talk about things, the more people get upset by people getting upset ad infinitum."

ChuckMcM 14y ago

Interesting. I find the "I'm so offended" rants or the "What just happened?" rants rather amusing. It's easy to pick something to be offended by, but why is that the lede? Would talking about the phone be too dangerous? I don't know, it reminds me of drama for drama's sake. I found their skits contrived, I wondered if this was how Koreans saw American Culture, I reminded myself that Psy got the YouTube page view record with Gangnam Style. But mostly I was trying to hear how they felt their design choices added value in the phone. Some I found compelling (like picture insets, translation) and others sort of ho-hum (like storybooking) but it didn't bother me that they all had midwestern accents or anything.