Once Again, The Oxygen Network Thinks They Have A Damn Clue

Wendy B. from Canada gifted me with this jewel from Diamonds.net this morning, thank goodness, galvanizing me to get back to business and write about something of some relevance!  Here's the article in whole.

Women Say No To Diamonds, Yes To Hi-Tech Devices

Women are voraciously hungry for technology not diamonds, clothes, and shoes, according to a survey released by the women-owned cable television channel Oxygen Network. Nearly eight in 10 women told the network they would prefer a plasma television set to a diamond solitaire necklace. Seventy-nine percent of women surveyed are interested in using technology as opposed to simply having it in hand.

"We are proud to be giving women the credit that they deserve for being savvy and knowledgeable about technology – something we have long suspected and are thrilled to be able to quantify," said Geraldine Laybourne, CEO Oxygen Media. "Girls Gone Wired is Oxygen’s most ambitious Women’s Watch study yet, and we have gotten amazing new insights into women and technology."

According to the survey -- women clock a 15-hour day and are looking for fast, efficient technology to help their busy schedules. In the next five years women told Oxygen they see themselves investing in and becoming expert users with digital cameras and multi-use cell phones.

The survey was conducted by Oxygen to help its station advertisers understand needs of the view audience.

Wendy prefaced her email by wondering where exactly they got this sample of women who prefer plasma screens to diamonds.  And then she realized, a-ha!  Oxygen viewers...

A brief review of Oxygen's fetid fare, if you will.  Viewers who are in one moment being told to buy, buy, buy! jewelry and in the next they're being told that a 103" plasma screen and a Treo that can wax your bikini line is really the best use of your money.  And who needs a man anyway?

She-Ra man-haters unite!

And please, please, if you can stomach it, read this now.  This is how Geraldine Laybourne, the braying loud-mouth CEO of Oxygen Media, feels is an appropriate way to introduce ones children to the public spotlight.  This is a sick woman.

Laybourne hasn't a clue about women, about children, about anything.  And certainly not about jewelry vs. plasma screens.  Next year there will be a bigger, better plasma screen because those amazing engineers and technicians will make one.  There may also be a bigger, better diamond.  Quite likely.  But if there is, we might not want it, because we women become attached to these things in a very real and sentimental way that a robot like Mrs. Laybourne could not understand.

Further, has she considered that today's woman might want both the diamond and the plasma screen?  Touché!  This woman is so, just, beyond, that it is mind-boggling to me that she continues to build her empire.  And on the back of Oprah Winfrey no less.

Perhaps she has had the foresight to put together a trust fund for therapy for her kids, because they're gonna need it.  Perhaps.  If not, Oprah probably has.  She likes the kids and puppies.

UPDATE:  How about this asinine headine?  "Women like tech toys more than shoes."  Wow.  There's some good research and reporting.

What about those of us who like our Taryn Rose shoes, our PowerBook G4s and don't necessarily think that we have to be one way or the other about it.  Must we choose?  We think not.

Can't we be very Agent 99 about things?  We think Agent 99 had it both ways.  And we like that about her.

Comments

[paz]

geez, i'll take diamonds over purses, shoes and yes, plasma tv!

[MoneyMiss]

That is disgusting. "We can't get it on 'cause we're siblings"??? Lovely to see the love and CARE that goes into caring for her kids...

[Susanna]

Which is why, MoneyMiss, that you and your friends should avoid Nickelodeon like the plague, because it was the brainchild of Mrs. Laybourne. I think you're a bit too old for that channel anyhow, thank your lucky stars.

Tell your friends, pronto, though. There are probably some kiddies in the neighborhood having their brains rotted out right now by Nickelodeon, and tonight their mothers will have their brains sucked out through their noses by Oxygen.

Thanks for reading, sweetie. Glad to have you!

[Wendy]

Oh, yes, please! Let's all be Barbara Feldon-y! Capable, fashionable, intelligent, and not at all hard on the eyes while aging gracefully ...

[Cath]

See the plasma vs. diamonds question leaves out some crucial information: How big is the TV? Is it a flat-screen? What kind of resolution does it have, and how crisp are the colors? Are the built-in speakers any good? And, uh, how, um big, I guess, are the diamonds?

Oh, crap. I guess this makes me Oxygen's target market. Sigh.

[Kimberly]

I so remember the birthday present my (then boyfriend now husband) gave me... a Palm Pilot with the color screen. His reasoning was "You said you thought mine was neat and cool." Yes dear, but at the time I had a Palm Pilot from work that was fine with me, and I'd rather have an engagement ring -- especially after my parents and I paid the down payment on the house. Needless to say, I threw a slight tantrum.
=:8

[Gunnar Heinrich]

Something tells me that Sony has nothing on Asprey & Garrard when it comes to what women more desire. The tech claim is simply bogus.

[Wendy]

Gunnar's comments are on point by me.

This hit our national morning news program Canada AM yesterday. The cast: a female news anchor, a female co-host, a male co-host and a male weather person. The women practically chortled and asked how tiny the diamond solitaire was ... the weather fellow said the problem with a diamond was that picture is too small and the reception's not good, or something to that effect. No comment was made about the "respresentative" (or not) nature of the sample.