Ballsy Brin brands smartphones & emasculating
Unwise Google co-founder Sergey Brin says the smartphone is 'emasculating', dissing Android and women in the process.
Speaking about Google's future at the Technology Education and Design (TED) conference in LA, Brin was unwavering in his dislike for the device.
Making reference to the way people walk around hunched over their smartphones, like evolving monkeys growing with time*, Brin asked: “Is this the way you’re meant to interact with other people? It’s kind of emasculating.
"Is this what you’re meant to do with your body?”
Despite admitting he was as much as 'victim' of this as any other run of the mill human being, Brin's viewpoint immediately drew attention from the industry, questioning such comments in light of Google's heavy investment in Android mobile phones.
“I have a nervous tic," he continued. "The cell phone is a nervous habit — If I smoked, I’d probably smoke instead, It’d look cooler.
"But I whip this out and look as if I have something important to do. It really opened my eyes to how much of my life I spent secluding myself away in email.”
Unsurprisingly Brin's comments caused a stir, with many believing the Google co-founder to have shot himself square in the foot with the most masculine shotgun known to man.
Professor Andrea Matwyshyn displayed her annoyance at the comments, telling TechCrunch that Google has now positioned itself as the creator of "man gadgets", potentially alienating 50% of the customer market in the process.
"That is a missed commercial opportunity. Women make a large portion of household consumer purchasing decisions in the United States, and they tend to spend equal or greater numbers of hours using technology as do men according to some studies."
And while Brin's agenda is down to the search engine's impending release of it's new web-browsing glasses, irrelevant of any future release, taking cool advice from a guy testing out his Google Glass spectacles on the New York subway is just not cricket.
Describing Google Glass as "a little freaky at first, but you get used to it", the wearable computer is set to be Brin's baby project, which may explain his willingness to wander the streets of Downtown New York in ridiculously expensive eyewear.
And given long-time rival Apple also announced plans to throw themselves into a new line of product categories, is the way being paved for a new popular gadget?
Yet Brin's modus operandi in this case, whether his genuine opinion or not, is ill-advised given his own company's approval of smartphone products.
If dissing, to keep it real, a product to boost another is considered business savvy, keep an eye out for the day Brin takes to the New York subway, stamping on his Google Glass spectacles while wearing his newly created smartphone-esque wristwatch.
Providing it isn't 'emasculating' however.
*Disclaimer: Completely fabricated to improve the contents of the article
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