HP to get schooled by teens on PC’s

Posted May 17, 2008 at 07:50 PM by Renay San Miguel

Section: Computers, Desktops

One of Silicon Valley’s oldest companies is boosting its effort to acquire the youngest customers. CNET was at a Teens and Tech conference when Hewlett-Packard officials announced a forthcoming line of computers and other devices catering to - and in some cases, designed by - teenagers.

The HP execs quoted talked about something called its Teen Council, which will offer suggestions for product design and how they are used. I’m curious as to how many times the name of a certain Cupertino-based company with a piece of fruit as its logo was mentioned when this Teen Council offered its advice.

HP’s TouchSmart PC is mentioned as an example of an company product that was designed with teens in mind. But when I covered the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas - where the TouchSmart made its debut as an example of a new Windows Vista-powered machine - the buzz on its potential use was focused on managing media in livings rooms and kitchens. Of course, it’s easy to imagine its touchscreen capabilities used by the teen in the family; I look forward to the HP television commercials (and they do produce some cool spots) highlighting that very scenario.

Read [CNET]