Is Pink the New Black?

Will every gadget turn girly? Last week Nintendo announced that its DS Lite handheld console has given in to the cuteness. The “Noble Pink” DS Lite is only available in Japan for now—not too upsetting because there are plenty of other domestic gadgets that come in the Pepto-Bismol color. There’s a pink USB flash drive that cleverly resembles a lipstick case, a pink tool kit equipped with a pink hammer and five meters of tape coiled in a pink tape measurer, and even the Roomba robo-vacuum has turned cleaning into a pink frenzy.

All this pink is putting me in need of some Pepto myself. Isn’t it just a little patronizing of companies to suggest that technology has to be pink for the gadget-conscious female to buy it? A pink emergency car kit? Come on! I’m stuck on the side of the road; the last thing I’m worried about is how pretty the jumper cables are. But when the gadgets go toward a good cause—many of these pink gizmos include a donation to breast cancer research in their price—I guess I don’t feel so silly when my crib looks like the Barbie Dream House. —Carla Thomas

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