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From girls to Cybergrrls!
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October 24, 1996: 9:08 p.m. ET
New technology companies try to open up the computer boys' club
From Correspondent Beverly Schuch
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - New companies are finally learning to cater to young girls and sparking interest in what has historically been a boys' world: technology.
There are 25 million girls between the ages of six and 18 in the United States and that group is one of the largest untapped consumer markets in the high tech industry.
The private computer software companies trying to interest girls in technology (578K QuickTime movie) will have plenty of convincing to do.
A survey of third to twelfth graders found that only eight percent of girls consider playing on the computer one of their favorite activities. That's about half of the percentage of their male counterparts.
The attitudes could affect the composition of the workforce. About half as many girls as boys say they plan to work in a computer-related field.
Girl Games is an interactive software company trying to encourage more interest at an early age. Design must follow the current gap in girls' comfort with technology.
"Girls are new users entirely so they are coming to the computer without much previous knowledge of how a game might work or how they should be moving through a product," said Girl Games President Laura Groppe.
"It has to be incredibly intuitively designed for girls." she explained.
Cybergrrl, an interactive company in New York City, designs web sites geared to girls.
It fields 300 e-mails a day and, according to Cybergrrl President Aliza Sherman, they are clearly hungry for more sites that speak to them personally. (106K WAV) or (106K AIFF)
These companies are tapping into what could prove to be a highly lucrative market. Girl Games estimates that girls spend $57 billion of their own money annually.
For now, there are only a few companies aimed at girls but if their numbers are right, it's likely more businesses will see girls as their newest high tech customers.
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