The ever-quotable, perennially unkempt
Roger McNamee of Elevation Partners fame indulged in a bit of self-parody in a mock-commercial screened at D7 before
he and Jon Rubinstein took the stage. While incredibly entertaining, the video also acts as a bit of damage control for Roger, who infamously stated that there would be a massive and sudden exodus from the iPhone to the Pre once those original iPhone contracts are up. Palm naturally distanced itself and "clarified" the comments, but that doesn't seem to have dampened McNamee's spirit: in the video he calls the Pre, among other things, "better than Viagra." Unfortunately for McNamee, he might've been better served by a damage control video
after his time on stage with Walt and Kara: his semi-sexist "It has a mirror on the back... there's never been a phone like this for women before" line -- not to mention a general disregard for sane conversation -- isn't winning him many points with the crowd. Video is after the break.
posted May 28th 2009 3:12PM
How is that sexist if it is true? Woman love mirrors, and most girls love cell phones. Hence, I'm sure they will all love a phone with a mirror. Case closed.
I couldn't agree more. Kara sounds like a Femnazi to me who was merely on stage so it wasn't four dudes talking about smartphones.
If you look over the transcript, she does little more than utter innane questions we already know the answer to, I mean, a tablet? What the hell?
Kara, go get pissed over a mirror or something, ok?
I see absolutely nothing wrong with that statement. It's like saying men like watching football. There is nothing sexist about it whatsoever.
She's tripping.
I have a mirror screen protector for my iphone, it's great
@ *Justsomegirl:
Now you're reinforcing the iphone fan stereotype.
Stereotype or not, it's not really negative, and I think it would be a little unfair to portray it as him saying all women are vain, or something along those lines. Coming to that conclusion because he said women like to have a mirror on them is like drawing the conclusion that all men are greedy because they have wallets.
what is that stereotype?
intelligent and like to look good =)
OK.
@ *Just Some Girl:
I'm referring to the stereotype of mentioning the iPhone in every. single. article.
Even iPhone owners are starting to get exasperated, as it makes the rest of them (i.e. the quiet ones) look bad.
@The WC
I think you are referring to the people who post silly comments like " iphone rulez blah blah FTW!!!" and contribute nothing to the story.
I fail to see how that applies to my comment. Relax.
Who opened the time portal to 1956?
It is sad you lot would agree that a mirror is a "woman's thing" when there are so many men who like to take care of their appearance, and also many women who do not ... it is not a woman's thing at all, it is a "I care about my appearance" or "I am vain" thing and so therefore is NOT specific to one gender.
It is also anti-women because it suggests that women are not interested in the *important* things about phones (coverage, storage capacity, screen size and quality, UI, apps, call quality, etc) when of course, those things are as important to women as they are to men. The reverse is true, too - men do judge phones on their aesthetics as frequently as, and to the same degree, as women.
It is really sad that you would think that football is a man's thing when statistics show that millions of women watch and attend games. Are they not women, in your eyes? Because they like football?
As for "Fem(i)nazi only there to avoid having four blokes", Kara is a long-established technology author and columnist, and her credentials are a cut above your credentials of being ... well, an idiotic commentator on Engadget.
The real reason she is there is because *she co-created this conference with Walt* but of course that possibility never entered your head because to you lot, she is "just a woman", right? Couldn't possibly know anything about technology, let alone have a hand in making the great D:ATD conferences happen, hey?
Well women paint shit on their faces. I would venture to say MOST women, paint shit on their faces. Almost all men do not. Women need to check their paint job on a regular basis. Men only have to check their hair, if they have any.
So yes women need a mirror. This is why a great deal of women carry a foldable mirror in their purse. Why tons of portable cosmetics come with mirrors. I can't remember meeting a man that always had a mirror close at hand.
How incredibly knee jerk PC.
There is an uncomfortable difference between what is actually sexist (his comment, as well as the VAST MAJORITY of advertising in the world) and what the layman THINKS is sexist (not much). It is difficult to see sexism if you live in a world where generalizations are the norm for you.
If you are a man who loves football, and all your male friends love football, then it seems like saying "men love football" is a reasonable statement. That doesn't make it less sexist, it just makes you ignorant of how it COULD be sexist.
That is, the closer you and the people you know are to the norm, the harder it is to see the sexism. And (no surprise) MOST people are close enough to the norm that this sort of thing doesn't stand out.
Maybe it sounds worse than it reads. Personally I don't see what sexist about that comment. I can promise you they didn't put that mirror there for dudes. What's wrong with trying to sell to women?
"Oh a slide up mirror is only for women?!!!!"
No, put you can use a sliding piece of shut the hell up.
I don't understand how that could be taken as some derogatory comment that she needed to freak out about.
"sliding piece of shut the hell up"
You just made my day, good sir. Ell Oh Ell.
I don't see it as all that derogatory, but it was still a real stupid statement. I mean, of all the things to tout about this device, he's going with "women will love it"?? I mean, has he SEEN the pink Blackberry pearl?
She's a woman, they freak out at stuff like this.
At least he wasn't talking about the vibrating feature.
Her articles suck anyways. Her questions were about as lame as they could possibly get.
Funny video & great little phone. It's just a shame that all the hype started so (too) early. There's not a snowballs chance in hell that i'll be able to behave myself until 'Christmas time' for UK Pre sales to happen! It's looking like an android or Job's set for me.
I'm a dude and I'll find the mirror useful. I'm man-pretty.
Nice...really? Does your phone need a mirror? Would you be caught looking in it at your hair, facial features or spinach in your teeth?
That video was hilarious! Even if you don't like the Pre, I'd hope you'd at least find McNamee funny in this bit.
It's parody Apple Fanboy!
lol @ title
men can always use the mirror for sending Morse code signals whilst hiking in the desert where there's no signal, or if your a cheap-skate it could save you a bomb on texting people.
Of course, the direct line of sight only is a bit of a bummer... ;)
I always figured the mirror was for self portraits
One more thing. Whose brilliant idea was this mirror? I kind of get the sense that it could be dangerous on the road if your phone/mirror catches the sun and blinds other drivers.
Sarcasm?
There are plenty of other objects in a car that can blind long before a pre will.
Yeah! And they should remove wing mirrors from cars too as they might catch the sun.
Well, last I checked, side view mirrors don't get held at eye level pointing at other motorists and move randomly with your head. Maybe I'm just thinking like a lefty, holding my phone on the window side. I'm just saying, a mirror on the back of a phone is stupid, and the pre has a nice understated black exterior, only to be marred by a huge black-chrome sea when opened.
Dude, wth are you doing holding your phone at eye level while driving?!?! You should be looking the road!
Don't use your phone while driving ofc. :D
kind of lame
Right. Because every woman I know puts "must have mirror" on her list of must-haves for a cell phone. You have to look good before you make that voice phone call. :-/
What an idiotic comment.
Sexist? Probably, but not worth getting in an uproar over. If you freak out over every stupid comment someone makes, you'll never do anything BUT.
Aren't the little mirrors on the back of the phone for self-portraits/group shots via cellphone anyway?
It's just that women use a mirror more than men.
no, but every women you know puts a mirror in her purse, hence...
That's so sad.
420
Seriously, what was the deal with the two 4:20 comments he made? I found that quite odd. Seems a strange joke to make in that setting and context. But hey, kudos to him for just being himself.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/420_(cannabis_culture)
I'm completely aware of what it means, which is why I'm so surprised that he'd make those jokes in that setting.
cuhz they alll smoke weed !!!! duhhhhh
only stoners think of... "i wish i could jus type what i was looking for" ..plus many other innovative ideals
mmm purple kushhhh ^_^
Gotta feel sorry for the fat, ugly women. Why would they want a mirror?
There is nothing wrong with Roger's comment. Salespeople will be mentioning the mirror to more women than men even though it's perfect for the last second, "parsley in teeth" check. How many women get pitched Sprint's NFL Mobile even though lots of women love football? How many men carry a mirror with them at all times? And how many more women do?
Roger was wrong, however, that there's never been a phone like this before for Women: LG Shine, anyone? In fact, LG had the same thought the same way Roger did, too:
The "OMG!! UR A PIG!" Commercial
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCt75jLlQ3w
And a British T-Mobile press release, featuring Holly Willoughby, a UK TV personality
- http://uk.lge.com/about/press_release/detail/PRE%7CMENU_5535_6.jhtml
booooring....!
It got a smile out of me. Wasn't epic, but kind of cute in a train-wreck sort of way. :-)
Alien Technology FTW!
funny?????
that was freaking painful to watch. talk about beating a dead horse.... that could have been cut down to 45 seconds, and gotten the exact same message across.
Liked the video. Thought the mirror comment was in perfect keeping with his sense of humor. I know somebody just like him. He likes saying things to set events in motion and just stand back and watch - like a cat playing with a live mouse. His nickname is 'stick'. Hey, and can't everyone use a mirror to at least check their teeth in case you are sharing what you had for lunch with everyone? The Pre could save your next sales pitch from the speckled green smile of dealmaking death.
No, I don't think you do.....unless you know the sun.
nothing all that wrong with his statement, except it's wrong, cause there have been feature phones/smart phones with mirrors before. lots of em.