Comments for Veronica Belmont

Comment on How relevant is computer engineer Barbie? by Pappaous

Pappaous — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 15:54:58 +0000

I cant argue that this type of marketing doesnt work. Maybe not as effective as it once was before Internet 2.0, but still works… I find it interesting about the target niche they are proposing. It doesnt take alot of thought or imagination to figure-out what they are shooting for. Quest has been way out on the bleeding edge with this. They never assigned an average or ugly girl to their big accounts, and the girls wouldnt last long, 2-3 years max. Interesting… So why not just go to the Playboy Manson and recruite right out from under Heffner? He is too far gone to notice, and with the advent of Cloud computing, SAAS, SOA, none of those girls couldnt fail to fool 90% of the customers. I guess it al boils down to the H2B problem. Set Qualifications to exaspirate domestic hireing and get your visa’a expanded. So, how would you go about showing a Playgirl is more qualified? Without blowing your cover…

Comment on How relevant is computer engineer Barbie? by edabug

edabug — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:56:59 +0000

I’ve had an issue as soon as I saw the pictures of the new Barbie. While it’s great that Mattel decided to give Barbie a CE character, she still wears pink outfits, carries a pink laptop and wears pink glasses – in other words, a very girlie girl. Its surprising how much the sexes are segregated and aware of their differences even from the earliest of childhood. Girls aren’t taught to understand “how stuff work”, and maths and science aren’t cool. Unless those things change, just having a CE barbie out there wont bring more girls to engineering..

Comment on How relevant is computer engineer Barbie? by Phillip

Phillip — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:18:53 +0000

Growing up I had race cars, sailboats, and GI Joes as toys. I loved them, but I also loved to dress and re-dress my neighbor’s huge barbie collection. I studied fashion design in college, worked in the industry, and later taught fashion. (Presently I work as a video editor and webmaster). I think Barbie influenced my career path, at least in part. Not sure if that relates to this discussion, but for all of the feminists who like to speak out against Barbie- STFU because it can have a positive influence.

As for the race cars and sailboats? Formula One and Americas Cup are two of my favorite obsessions.

Comment on How relevant is computer engineer Barbie? by Fahad Fateh

Fahad Fateh — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:02:09 +0000

Its odd to see barbie that beautiful. People make/want what they don’t have. Really? There is not enough beauty?Weird.

With other things I can understand BUT that too cuts into this.

Some thing is wrong and we need to find out what. And you Veronica for a number of reasons are the perfect person to tell us why.

So in other words you are beautiful.

Comment on How relevant is computer engineer Barbie? by piero

piero — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 03:38:29 +0000

Very thoughtful article VB.

Comment on How relevant is computer engineer Barbie? by The computer engineer Barbie makes the web buzz | Sebbie on the Webbie

The computer engineer Barbie makes the web buzz | Sebbie on the Webbie — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:25:08 +0000

[...] How relevant is computer engineer Barbie? – Veronica Belmont [...]

Comment on How relevant is computer engineer Barbie? by Veronica

Veronica — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:56:51 +0000

@Rebecca – I only meant that her outfit is futuristic! Although, I might rock that binary shirt

Comment on How relevant is computer engineer Barbie? by Rebecca Zook

Rebecca Zook — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:12:26 +0000

Hey, thanks for your comments on my article on Mashable today about Barbie! I enjoyed reading your blog post too

I was wondering — at the end where you said “I don’t know too many women in IT rocking the sparkly leggings and white leather vests to work at the office (unless…she’s from the future” — did you mean that coder Barbie’s outfit is futuristic, or that we’re not yet at a point where women would be able to dress like that in the workplace?

Comment on How relevant is computer engineer Barbie? by Dave

Dave — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:43:02 +0000

Look behind the relavence. Computer engineer Barbie is an angle to sell products. It doesn’t matter whether you type on a pink laptop with finely manicured nails, or a black laptop with errr!! let’s say nails that are not in as good condition, the result is the same. Gender is of no relevance. Being able to do the job IS!! If hardware is coloured specifically for women then so be it (I think it is a nice change).

Comment on How relevant is computer engineer Barbie? by Vanessa

Vanessa — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:43:43 +0000

It’s nice to see them catch up and show Barbie in a tech profession. It’s really a shame that more women aren’t in professions like these. Though it seems like things are changing which is a wonderful thing in itself. I played with Barbies as a kid and never imagined loving tech so much. But like you said she would’ve have been a very good influence in the earlier days especially at the time when I was growing up in the 80s and early 90s.

Comment on How relevant is computer engineer Barbie? by Barbie hat auch den Weg zum Computer gefunden! | Cymeradwyo.de

Barbie hat auch den Weg zum Computer gefunden! | Cymeradwyo.de — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:56:13 +0000

[...] 126. Karriere-Barbie ist die Computer-Engineer Barbie vorgestellt worden. Ich habe davon in einem anderen Blog gelesen und musste wirklich schmunzeln, als ich sie gesehen habe mit ihrem Laptop auf dem Arm [...]

Comment on How relevant is computer engineer Barbie? by Matthew Boehm

Matthew Boehm — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:41:20 +0000

I think the biggest sign that Computer Engineer Barbie is significant is the reaction from so many female engineers. It’s not every day adults get so excited over a children’s doll, but I believe many see this as a key sign that the mainstream is starting to look past the stereotypes that have been established for computer-related jobs.

As computers have become more ubiquitous, the image of computer engineers has shifted from people playing with oscilloscopes or punch-cards in a lab somewhere to the the people that made that cool Facebook app or the designers of your beloved smartphone.

“Computer Engineer Barbie” seems somewhat contradictory, though. Barbie is representative of some of the earliest gender roles we assign to our children; girls play with dolls, while boys play with toy cars, sports, etcetera. I’m not saying society shouldn’t have gender roles, but is the best way to tell girls that it’s cool to be an engineer to make them play with their computer engineer dolls?

Comment on How relevant is computer engineer Barbie? by John

John — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:11:36 +0000

Very interesting discussion, and a topic taken up by Pamela Fox, a very cool Googler in a recent Ignite talk http://www.igniteshow.com/videos/im-barbie-girl-cs-world)

Well worth the 5 minutes on this topic!

Comment on How relevant is computer engineer Barbie? by Camilla

Camilla — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:18:07 +0000

I grew up with both Barbies and Ninja Turtles.
What I remember is the difference playing with them.
With my Turtles it was adventures, me and my brother had the turtles climb the highest mountain in the world (our stairs) fight the bad guys and explore the world.
The Barbies just changed clothes, brushed their hair and talk where pretty. All their accessories where pink, cute and useless.
Just compare the turtles wan to Barbies pink mini cab, super cool vs. total piece of beautiful junk.
My point is, yes I do think Barbie getting a Laptop is a good move…but it’s still just another pink useless accessorise that matches her clothes….

Comment on How relevant is computer engineer Barbie? by jhonny

jhonny — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:29:59 +0000

in my short life as an engineer.
ive never seen a colleague with so much… … … pink.

i feel like a character from “Legally Blonde”.

Comment on How relevant is computer engineer Barbie? by rob frost

rob frost — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 10:25:45 +0000

LOL, that was the first thing I thought: iJustine!

Also, what is it with pink?
Seriously, why is it the girl’s color and if something is for a girl then it is pink.

It’s kinda weird.

Comment on How relevant is computer engineer Barbie? by Michelle

Michelle — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 05:54:58 +0000

I’m all for it. I loved tech growing up, but it was so obviously for boys — nerdy boys — that I mostly stayed away from the field (until adulthood, at least).

Comment on How relevant is computer engineer Barbie? by Dave Friedel

Dave Friedel — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 03:37:09 +0000

There’s a Veronica Edition of that Barbie doll.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dave-friedel/4410285976/

Comment on How relevant is computer engineer Barbie? by David

David — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:43:21 +0000

I have to agree with you on the look. I know a fabulous Development Manager who rocks a great look but also does damn good work to the point that she was shortlisted for one killer job with a major tech company and picked up one for another.

I have to disagree on the irrelevance of Barbie though. My 3 (nearly 4) year old daughter constantly switched between playing Star Wars in the backyard with her older brother (I’m sure my neighbours think my kid’s names are Luke & Leia) and playing with the tub of Barbies she scammed a massive discount for at a local school fete. I think Barbie does have a place still in many girl’s lives and I’ll buy her a computer engineer Barbie, tell her about it and then let her strip it and change the clothes and dress up. It’s all about planting seeds and I’ll tell her this Barbie coded Plants Vs Zombies (her favourite game).

Comment on How relevant is computer engineer Barbie? by Fernando

Fernando — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:20:36 +0000

Is she dealing with machine language?