This News.com Post makes it look like Ask.com wants to be a librarian now: Ask.com is cutting 40 jobs–8 percent of its work force–as part of a restructuring to refocus the search company toward providing answers to its core audience of women searching on entertainment, health, and reference topics, the company said on Tuesday.
Sadly, they let Gary Price go.
Ask.com
Those nitwits! I bet Gary Price knew at least -something- that women wanted to know.
What gave them that idea?
I am tired of women being stereotyped as to what they are, or are not, interested in. Why is providng answer to women considered to be “narrowing” a focus, and exactly how are they determining between questions asked by men from those asked by women? Very stupid idea. Condescending and discriminatory.
narrow-minded
If I search for “music” and then I search for “Tibetan throat-singing”, then I’ve narrowed my focus, haven’t I?
If I run a business for everyone (clothes) then I just sell women’s clothes I have narrowed my focus, as the set of women is smaller than the set of all people.
I don’t think there is anything discriminatory or condescending about it. Products are marketed to one gender or the other all the time.
P.S.
If they let go of the very talented Gary Price, then they really don’t know what they are doing. And, no, I’m not his mother.
To Chuck
So you search for women’s music as opposed to men’s music? Do you mean women can’t listen to music by men or that men won’t listen to music women listen to? How could that be anything but discriminatory. How does Ask.com know what I, as a woman, want to search for based only on my sex? Do I end up with the dredges of chick lit instead of Charles Dickens when I look for literature? Do I end up with soap operas instead of Hamlet when I look for drama? Is that the stereotype they are perpetuating? I find it very insulting. Still.
excellent question
I don’t know. But since you don’t either don’t you think it’s premature and unfair to say all these things and have no idea if they are true.
The above examples you give would be tasteless and insult. But you don’t know if that’s what they are doing, do you?