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Far from CES, it's my Yoga Mamas focus group. Which gadgets would we buy?

I'm not exactly on the forefront of gadget desire. Sure, those shiny pretty things are fun, but I'm not willing to lay out cash until I'm really sure I want something. I only got wireless for my laptop in November 2005. I can count the months I've owned a camera phone on my fingers. I've never, ever surfed the web or emailed from a "mobile communication device." I don't even have an iPod.

And yet. As soon as I laid my eyes on the shiny, sexy photos of Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)'s new iPhone -- a cell phone, iPod, movie player, camera, and "mobile communication device" in one, I called my husband. He's been threatening to buy me the biggest, fattest iPod for months, though I insist I don't need one.

"Will you buy me an iPhone?" I asked him. "You have six months to save up!" I'm already planning out how I'll use it to take and email photos of my sister-in-law's new baby, due in July, straight from the hospital. Melly Alazraki chimed in almost immediately -- she wants one, too.

I started emailing my friends, the urbanMamas (a.k.a. Yoga Mamas). We're like a ready-made focus group for professional women who blog but are otherwise far from the cutting edge of gadget-savviness. "Do you want one?" I asked.

The answer: yes, yes and more yes. (And one "no" because "I like the iPod and phone together, but I dislike having the Internet available anywhere anytime. I already waste too much time on it.") We've been waiting to enter this market, and Apple has given us the appetizer we needed.

What else at CES has my focus group opening up "budget.xls" on their computers to find some room for new goodies?

Continue reading Far from CES, it's my Yoga Mamas focus group. Which gadgets would we buy?

I am a 'Yoga Mama': We kick soccer moms' tushies

shetha and the yoga mamasI love labels. I especially love labels when they're devised by 'savvy' marketing analysts or pollsters. And the newest target for the corporate marketing dollar? 'Yoga Moms.'

I love this one particularly, not least because I'm totally a Yoga Mama (I prefer the "mama" moniker to "mom," as do most Yoga Mamas; you all may want to make a note of this). In fact, I registered the domain "spa mama.com" years ago and still receive email to some variant of "zen@" said dotcom. And yes, I do a lot of yoga. Yoga Mamas are said to be very particular about eating organic and feeding it to their kids; buying natural products; and we'll pay top dollar for it.

Whoa! Hold on. Maybe I'm not a Yoga Mama after all. Or maybe y'all have it wrong (still taking notes?) In fact, in my market analysis (done among my friends, many of whom I met at prenatal yoga, or at new mama knitting circles, or at the organic foods market, or as kindred spirits on some mama-centric web site), Yoga Mamas aren't willing to pay top dollar for anything organic or natural; in fact, our choices are much more shrewd than that.

My friends are, in fact, always talking about how they're on a budget, or they don't have money for this luxury or that luxury. Most of us don't spend much on our own clothes, for instance, and we're savvy resale shoppers -- often picking up expensive labels, to be sure, but for a fraction of the retail price. While we'll occasionally splurge on treats for ourselves (heck, someone's keeping those manicurists in business, and we love a good glass of Pinot Noir) we're also fanatic 'unit price' comparers and we won't go back to a place that doesn't fit in with a raft of values, from "respectful" to "green" to "treats its employees well." None of us shop at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT). All of us shop at Trader Joe's.

Continue reading I am a 'Yoga Mama': We kick soccer moms' tushies

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Last updated: February 11, 2012: 03:09 PM

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