Sorry, Young Man, You're Not the Most Important Demographic in Tech

No evidence is presented that women are the more valuable market, just that on average they spend more time online and using their devices. Which would you pick: 10 customers that use a mobile phone for 20 hours each vs. 100 customers that use a mobile phone for 3 hours each?

No statistics are posted on how much male usage counts for, saying 17 percent more is a big difference when 100% is 4 hours vs. 40 hours.

> One huge reason is the relative lack of women at major venture capital firms, startups, electronics makers, and Internet companies.

This seems like a strange conclusion, the obvious conclusion is that on average 1 18 - 24 Male (the "most valuable demographic") is more likely to spend money with the advertiser after seeing advertising than a female counterpart, isn't it? They present no evidence disproving the obvious conclusion. I also don't see how tech adoption can be that important to a company like Apple. Maybe if it's 25% more likely a female that owns an iPhone will recommend to a friend and have them purchase it and the chances of a female purchasing vs. a male based on an advert is equal then sure, but if a male is 10x more likely to buy after seeing an advert what value is women causing "adoption", isn't people buying your products adoption?

Not a very good article. I would suggest it's just written to fit the narrative ("not enough women in tech") or it's just really badly written: you can't make assertions without proving them.

Sales = adoption.

I wonder if it is true only in geographies like the USA or Canada, or whether it holds true in countries like India which have a much younger population?

"there are clear business reasons for technology companies to focus their efforts on women. But few do."

Well, for example I am creating a writers' tool (basically a markdown editor). I wonder if there is anything in the product design with which I can target man/woman. I was thinking in terms of ease of use, intuitivnes, efficiency, etc...

I am thinkging in terms of power users / casual users, geeks / non-geeks, etc... but should I think in terms of women / men?

The article says Asus has sexist tweets... Wouldn't it be sexist if I had prejudices about women's use of a 'word processor'? I am not cynical, I genuinely ask this.

Or watch his talk at BoS on how we suck at marketing to women. I guess you can choose to be capitalist or sexist ... show me the money!

It's called Pinterest -- 82% female: http://mashable.com/2012/02/28/pinterest-women-marketing/

Perhaps you've heard of it? ;)