CES 2005: Form, Function and Stylin' (washingtonpost.com)

CES 2005: Form, Function and Stylin' (washingtonpost.com): "We're not exactly talking about clothing, of course, though geeks with means do seem to favor more fashionable threads. Instead, consumer electronics companies are working hard to remember that form ought to follow function in the products they design. Here are the goods from the San Jose Mercury News: 'How products look, not just work, has become an integral part of the design of everything from Sony's PlayStation Portable video game console to the dozens of flat-screen televisions, digital cameras, camcorders and cell phones making their debut at the show. Long gone are the days of beige and boxy desktop computers, clunky black cell phones and ugly black laptop bags. Now the hottest tech gear styles mirror those that prevail in home and clothing design.'

Mary Alice Stephenson, a contributing editor to Harper's Bazaar and a fashion design consultant to Intel Corp., told the Mercury News that 'Technology is an extension of personal style. It's gone from geek to chic. There's a kind of show-off factor now.'

That's chick chic, according to Gary Shapiro, head of the Consumer Electronics Association, the group that runs CES. He said the trend toward fashionable tech coincides with the rise of women as buyers of technology, the Merc reported. Not that all companies know how to handle this trend. The paper wrote about VooDooPC, a 'maker of specialty gaming PCs,' such as its pink laptop. But as Stephenson of Harper's Bazaar pointed out, 'designers have to do much more than change colors to please women.' "