Hard wear

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Did you know that 70 percent of working women use a computer? Samsung executives were obviously as surprised by the statistic as the Vogue magazine editor who introduced the company's "Women in Technology" fashion show at Comdex.

After all, what would a woman want with a computer? You can't cook with it, and you can't shop with it (yet). If so many women are using computers, then how are computer makers going to hawk the devices to them? As fashion accessories, silly! How else?

Following the auto industry down the same Neanderthal path, Samsung executives seem to have come to the conclusion that women might plunk down for a computer if only it matched their shade of lipstick.

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Long-stemmed, pouty-lipped women and buffed Ken-doll look-alikes have been strutting their stuff on a runway made up of 164 computer monitors four times a day during Comdex. Sporting PCs strapped to their backs, carrying monitors like Grecian urns, the models pout and twirl down the runway with naked internal hard disk drives hooked onto their belts. Tres chic, but not very practical.

But wait, there's more. Those who can't live without a PC after a long day at the office can don a fashionably colorful over-the shoulder PC to to match their bright orange and fuchsia suits and take it out for a night on the town. "Samsung models looks great no matter where they are," piped the fashion show emcee. (She was referring to the computers.)

Still, there's the problem of what to do on the weekend. According to Vogue, you can throw on comfy clothes such as skin-tight pants, high-heeled boots, and puffy gray jackets (did she say comfy?) and log on to the Net without leaving the house.

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But $2,000 oh-so-practical numbers from Saks weren't the only PC-compatible outfits featured on this high-tech catwalk. The show began with three roller-skating models lip-synching to a Samsung hip-hop cheer.

Oddly enough, the women we interviewed weren't offended by the condescending tone of it all, seeming instead to stare in awe while dreaming of looking half as good.

"I thought the guy carrying the monitor was cheesy, but I didn't find it offensive," said one who couldn't wait to go shopping.

Apparently, our crew were the only spectators laughing. The Vogue and Saks people seemed to take pride in their new discovery that women actually use computers, and they can't wait to launch their new spring lines.

Does this mean pink PCs are on the horizon? Nah...probably just a passing fashion. Might break a nail.

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