Mr. Smith had previously been a sailor and was aware that ships are addressed as "she" and "her". He was now teaching a high school class, and he often wondered what gender computers should be addressed as. To answer that question, he split his class into two groups.

The first group was composed of young ladies, and the second of young men. Each group was asked to recommend whether computers should be referred to in the feminine gender, or the masculine gender. They were asked to give 4 reasons for their recommendations.

The girls reported that computers should be referred to in the masculine gender because:

1. In order to get their attention you have to turn them on.
2. They have a lot of data, but are still clueless.
3. The are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they are the problem.
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer you could have had a better model.


The boys, on the other hand, concluded that computers should be referred to in the feminine gender because:

1. No one but the Creator understands their internal logic.
2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else.
3. Even your smallest mistakes are stored in long-term memory for later retrieval.
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half of your paycheck on accessories for it.