HP to, like, totally launch PC line for teens
By Ryan Block 
posted May 17th 2008 2:30AM
posted May 17th 2008 2:30AM
Apparently HP's gotten so desperate to connect with the youth market that they've actually hired on a "teen council" to help design a new line of products -- likeliest PCs -- from top to bottom. Will it be another bomb like the hip-e? Guess we'll find out when the line launches this fall.
That is like soo totaly awsome!!! :p
damn hip-e's.
This is soooooooooo unfair! I hate you!
"Guess we'll find out when the line launches this fail."
Fixed ;)
I'm 15 and guarantee you no one at my school would take that shit.
Everyone at my school has smartphones and blackberries and iphones. Ipod touches and stuff putting shit in something and selling it high won't work.
That's not the actual computer. That's some old one from 2004 lol.
OMG OMG OMG!! HP? RLY?
Enough with the abbreviations, already! :)
@ gad get
u r like, getting old, bro, lol!
so they r like gonna like add some like more stuff like like special buttons like music like video while playing like games
like this would so awesome
Like Like
@Blizz419
I totally agree. Macs aren't bad computers, and yet unless you are really into graphics, video, and audio design/editing, then by buying a mac you are completely wasting your time/money.
kthxbye
Does anyone know what the hell is going on in that picture, and how do you make it stop?
isnt that what macs r for? cuz all teens have macs right? well the ones i know "alot" do......
yeah. im a teen and almost all my friends have macs and apple stuff.
hp is more businessy. apple is more youthy (??)
Apple is just plain crap, nothing else.
i agree mostly technex, unless your into graphic design and a couple other arts Macs are pointless, they try to hard to make them user friendly to the point its makes other shit less user friendly and a annoyance.
Well, teens fall for marketing more easily than adults.
Why do you think iPods are the most popular MP3 player? Why do teens listen to pop and rap (that is, manufactured music)? Why do they shop at Hollister? Etc.
i listen to rap too, but not that commercialized shit you here on the radio.
Can someone please enlighten me as to how a PC for "teens" can be different from regular PCs? -- I mean I guess you can make a Mickey Mouse/Barbie case or something for small children, but about teens? Stickers of Paris Hilton and 50¢ on the sides a generic HP?
Srsly... I'm confused -- this is coming from a 18, soon-to-be-19 year old... I for one don't see the point of all this...
This is how you sell to "The Youth"
Make a highly overpriced pc ,one that you could find the same configuration at in a Best buy or something.
Say it's made of the "highest quality parts"
Get "models" in the store to sell it.
Have the store that's selling it crank the music(if you can call it that) to ear drum blowing levels
Then don't advertise about it.
It works for Abercrombie & Fitch with clothing,so it could work for HP for pc's.
you forgot, and spray delicious cologne everywhere... i love A&F cologne haha...
This is why this wont work, Macs are the computers to have these days. Trust me I know, I'm 16. The only thing they could do is do a straight Macbook copy and drop the price to sub $1k hehe. But in all seriousness unless this offers some new unheard of innovation it'll be a total failure.
@ Ace B
What a pile of stereotypical crap!
You really know how to endear yourself to young people don't you?
or make it dispense eyeliner for the goth kids and steampunk it.
@mymaclife
Yep.It's crap alright.
That's why they are one of the best selling clothing retailers around.That's also why even though their clothing is pretty damn expensive,they get millions of saps to buy their clothing on a daily basis.
Apparently they are doing something right,now aren't they?
@Colin Potter
That's the hot topic version.
That comes out a month later.
As someone who's right at the end of their teenage years (i.e. 19), I must say....wtf?
If I was 15, I'd take a Dell XPS over any of their crap. Or even better, I'd build my own kick-ass rig that still has an understated style.
to sell to youth?
use the worst sound card and call it the iPC and add spin wheel.
and mediocre compatability.
THATS RIGHT FKN IPOD!
@ Ace B
Your social insights are profound.
Well done you've not only alienated every teenager but also anyone who cares to shop at Abercrombie and Fitch, btw last time I was in the store the demographic spanned every age range.
Choices based on fashion are trends are made by every age/social range.
Cock!
@mymaclife
Your just mad that I described you precisely.
And I was referring to the store A&F.
Not the company Abercrombie which owns : Hollister,A&F,Abercrombie Kids,Ruehl,and Gilly Hicks.Which appeals to different demographics.
And if some how you were referring to just the store also,the only reason why it "appeals" to all demographics is cause the demographic they are not selling to(everyone else who arent teens or young adults)will think they will be sexier or look younger or etc just by wearing something with a moose on it.
Basically it's kinda like when your 40+ year old mom wears your 12 year old sisters clothes just cause she wants to look"young".
LOL... i would say, as a rule, any "teen" that cares about how their PC performs likely knows as much as their parent and therefore does not need a dumbed-down PC
You' re right about that. However, teens, like me, know more about electronics than most parents.
Also, I can imagine HP has chosen some stereotypical teens that know nothing about computers, or anything else for that.
I do not understand why all academics and media like to say the current generation of youth is tech savvy. No we aren't. I have to fix everyones' crap at my job at college. Everyone buys a mac because it is cool and then brings it in for me to help them figure out to get on wireless because they "don't know anything about computers." Apparently being able to use facebook and youtube qualifies as leveraging technology.
Oh right and the point...so maybe having stupid "teen" computers might work :D.
That or we can go back to pen and paper, atleast that doesn't require IT support.
even if everyone under 18 isnt tech savvy, they probably could figure it out faster than their set-in-their ways parents
sorry i was gonna say something insightful but theres a party going on next door with a bunch of drunk late-20-somethings from Newfoundland and i cant think
I totally agree with this, although I am that guy who tries to fix everyones mac I am in no way a tech savvy person. I can't open up a computer and fix technical things, nor can I type commands in to terminal. And building my own PC? Ha! online tutorial here I come. I guess what I'm trying to say is this (my) generation, is the generation of information consumers. Most of the things we get off the web are already done for us.
uhit235,
...but the problem is that the general public is too stupid/ignorant to even get the info from the intrawebs.
I kid you not, I was rofl-ing each time when during my years in high school I heard someone bragging about getting a top of the line 10,000some dollar Alienware and a week later bitching and moaning about how it was too slow
[hint hint: limewire/kazaa + crapware + ignorant fool = a monster of a machine running at the speed of a slug]
hear hear! :-)
lol so true Michael LaFramboise i cant count how many computers i've hadto fix from people downloading shit going to shady porn sites and such and dont understand how there machine got loaded with tons of malware and then contininue not to take my advice and have it happen all over again and again.
Yeah, but the mac 'cool' extends beyond teenage years. The minimalist design (which hilariously screams 'high-tech!' louder than anything trying to look futuristic) appeals to a very large demographic including people of all ages. It's cool enough for the kids, but friendly enough for your grandma.
Which is probably the 'problem' HP's trying to face. Who wants a computer that your grandma would use? Macs appeal to too many people, it's not 'teen' enough.
Let's take operating system out of the equation, as these new generations aren't nearly at 'tech savvy' as people claim. I bet the same people you had to teach wireless settings on the Mac would have the same problems on Vista. Macs look cool but -everybody- has them, which opens up a market sector for HP. Make something 'cool' that's not everywhere like Alienware or Dell's XPS. It'll sell to the ignorant, regardless of specs. Sure, they'll eventually get tired of it (and claim it sold out or something reflexive like that), but it'll sell like fried food at a fat camp for a few years, at which time they can get a new set of teens to tell them what their new 'special' generation wants.
It's basically the direct inverse of the Apple design philosophy. You buy Apple, you're buying what Steve says you want. Some are offended by this... but quite honestly Steve's not too bad at it. Other than a few flukes (G4 Cube, maybe the Air), all his systems have some really valid purpose and do them well. But if you want to be able to customize, it's not the place. Now do the same thing, but replace Steve's will with demographic research and people trying to remember what their teen years were like. You get something pre-customized... something so customized for you that you don't even need to customize it! It'll sell.
Basically, it's the Scion xB of computers.
Designed by teens...for teens.
The cheesiness. It consumes.
know what? that's what it will need to be. Based on the article it seems as though they've hired an adult to talk about teens. Know what I want as a teen? a macbook that I can carry around. The only thing I wish it had were better speakers, and that's why I usually use headphones. If HP is going to hire an adult to talk about teens it is going to be very stereotypical (integrated cell phone charger? Separate sub-screen for Facebook and MySpace?) and won't sell to most because no one wants to be stereotypical.
But what am I saying? I splurged on the macbook (and now most of my friends want one too). I'll still be watching this just for laughs.
HP, learn from Apple's MacBook!
It's sleek and not bulky like Lenovos, simple in design and not to many curves like some HP's and Dell's and the MacBook Air (I'm only a semi-fanboy :-) ), and very, very portable for a student. Being about the size of a textbook, it fits in any school backpack.
It's more likely this was designed by a group with a minimum age of 40-50.
What is this a glorified Sidekick?
Ahhhhahahahaha. wow. lame.
duuuuuude... *sniff* *sniff*, this sh*t is awesome!
What will they call it "hip-ster"?
as a teen, i can say that the trend for having a "cool" PC is either Mac, or homebuilt (linux is coming "in" too). doubt this will work. i dig that they talked to teens though, should be interesting.
This is going to fail so hard... I mean, my teenage friends (I'm 19 myself) all don't care about what our rigs look like, because at LAN parties most of us just take the sides off so people can see what's inside anyways.. And with the looks of that thing, I'm pretty sure you'd get laughed right out of the LAN..
ugh.
how desperate.
What these moron MBA's fail to realize is that teens have NO IDEA what they want.
They need something to define them, not the other way around.
Exactly.
The key defining traits of teenage consumers are envy, jealousy, and alienation. Good products associate their users with with an existing, desirable group. Unless they drop a 2-million person userbase with this thing, they're doomed. That's the secret to Abercrombie, Mac B, not the music. It's the scandalous catalog, the false exclusivity, and the branding.
May as well just market it to parents, because they're the only ones spending money on this thing.
I thought Alienware already had the market for overpriced computers targeted toward a younger audience. Being in my mid-twenties, maybe I'm too old now to comment on the mindset of teenagers, but hopefully this will fail. Maybe HP/Compaq will quit making shitty computers with proprietary parts and stick to trying to build quality computers and reasonable prices. If it's anything like it was when I was a teenager, the only thing you have to do to market a computer to teenagers (or anyone else for that matter) is decrease the price. BAM! That will increase sells no doubt.
I hope that picture is not what the are planning to launch.
I agree. I would rather get one of the laptops they already have out than that. That looks like a 6-year-old play toy.
Pfft, During my early teenage years I had beige shitbox with the case open like everyone else... well several actually :)
Then I got a Ti-Book, but it was too slow so I traded it for a iMac Desk Lamp, which was too slow so I traded it for a G5...
Btw that thing in the picture is hideous, there's no way I'd have bought that as a teenager, I'd rather have kept my beige PC with half a case!
I agree.
Most tech savvy teens build their own pc's. That's what I did. I'm happy with my white box!
Most teens like Mac's, if they wanted this market, they should have gotten in a long time ago.
Also, cell phones...
Utes?
Well... Let's use all the stereotypical teens and see what features it has, easy?
Jocks: It comes with a football case.
Emos: Switchblade on the keyboard.
Preps: Well... I don't really know wut preps are.
Blondes: The screen is whiteout-proof.
Goths: The screen, when turned off, doubles as a mirror, allowing them to put on eyeliners.
Did I miss any? Please don't flame me.
HAHAHA, that is awesome.
Preps want a computer that is designed by one of their favorite brand names, like Gap, or A&F, or a designer like Gucci or LV.
I'm not a prep or anything, so I wouldn't know.
just give me an ultraportable with some ubuntu or fedora! its not that hard
and although it might be hard with linux to find the right drivers, a touchscreen
even though linux is gaining popularity, kids (people who don't read websites like engadget hourly) won't know wtf linux is unless they see it, give it to a few kids, let them bring it to school, and show it to all of their friends with compiz on, it will blow there minds, and then you tell em its free, and that there are a lot of linux computers that cost 400-500 dollars,
then you are set
if i was given a computer that was made for teens (I'm fourteen) I would be highly dissapointed, my parents know me well enough though, even though they aren't tech friendly, to ever buy me this crap, call me a hypocrite, but i love os x, not because it is easy to use, but i just love the dock, and finder, the only other reason which i havent been able to fill yet was so i could run ubuntu, and vista on it so i could say i have a triple booting mac, but i havent been able to get ahold of vista, and linux screwed up my computer, and i had to wipe both partitions, and reinstall os x
I'm not sure how successful this is going to be, regardless of the designs. Only HP could design the Mini-Note, do a good Apple-grade job of it, make a big deal about how it was going to be a mobile-phone-style aspirational product, then decline to market it and bury it on the Small Business part of their website.
Maybe HP is trying to corner the future retro market. Doomed to failure now, but a hit on Ebay in thirty years.
Personally, I think HP needs to make a more 'OMG like totally hip!" line of PCs. As a teen, some of HP's notebooks are powerful, but not exactly visually appealing. While I like the power behind their 'special edition' notebook, I still feel more drawn to more expensive competitors, such as Alienware or the Dell XPS m1730 (I really like the lighting effects!). I think HP would reach the teen market by designing something for gaming, while maintaining a reasonable price point. The Blackbird is the closest PC HP offers to this, but it's just so expensive....
@mymaclife
Your just mad that I described you precisely.
And I was referring to the store A&F.
Not the company Abercrombie which owns : Hollister,A&F,Abercrombie Kids,Ruehl,and Gilly Hicks.Which appeals to different demographics.
And if some how you were referring to just the store also,the only reason why it "appeals" to all demographics is cause the demographic they are not selling to(everyone else who arent teens or young adults)will think they will be sexier or look younger or etc just by wearing something with a moose on it.
Basically it's kinda like when your 40+ year old mom wears your 12 year old sisters clothes just cause she wants to look"young".
Damned reply system.
well id never touch a hip-e, plus im 12, not even a teen yet and im getting a 2.66ghz imac that would kill that thing, teens need more power in a computer and this will just barely get them through 2 months without something failing because the machine isnt powerful enough
um ok..... 1st thing, teens dont have money, unless you target 17-18 year olds and game developers just dont seem to want to stop raising the fucking bar. to play cod 4 you need at least $800, not including monitor but in a few months some other kikass game comes out that makes your PC seem like shit. thats why consoles are for teens, they don't need to worry about frame rates or any nonsense, the game will always work until a new console is announced.
so if they could some how, by the power of Jesus, make a cheap powerful PC, the would last with any new game for 5 years, then they are going somewhere.
What were they thinking? What is this computer gonna do that other pcs that teens use cant?
lol expect a Hannah Montana edition soon lmao...
Damn i just gave them an idea >=\
none of you retards know anything
if its stylish, has a good feature set, and is marketed corerectly (which wouldnt be hard) it would sell fairly well. (obviously that monstrousity in the pic would fail harder than you losers trying to get chicks.)
Refers you back to the Macbook
Ok, so at 21 I'm no longer a teen. But, from the time I was 12 until recently, I had an IBM PS/1 that I kept replacing parts in and rebuilding. It's still around, and on its second case, 4th mobo, 3rd psu, etc. It's also an old Athlon, time for another rebuild :)
More recently, I bought an HP business desktop. I code; I'm not a gamer, so business machines on sale are the best value per $ for me.
Full disclosure: I wear flannel shirts, split firewood by hand, and code C in emacs. I doubt I represent their target market here.