Barbie the Computer Engineer (Sorry, Guys, Not in Real Life)

From the “Don’t You Wish This Happened In Reality Dept.” comes the news that Mattel’s Barbie, evidently tiring of her careers as “babysitter, cowgirl, ballerina and ambassador for world peace,” according to PCMag, has picked up her 126th job: computer engineer.

 

We remember Barbie the surgeon and astronaut, but they never had a pink laptop and Bluetooth headset. Wonder what kind of GPS navigation system the Dream Car has?

 

TechEye notes that a Mattel competition “to help chose Barbie’s 125th career in the Barbie’s I Can Be doll series, was swamped with votes from Facebook (News - Alert) and Twitter as Computer Engineer Barbie became viral amongst female engineers and other women in the tech industry.” News Anchor Barbie won the actual competition, but Mattel took the hint and immediately released Computer Engineer Barbie as well.

 

We’re still waiting for our vote of Trophy Wife Barbie to win.

 

Geeks everywhere wish a perky Barbie dropped in the seat next to them, wanting to chat about meta tags, their favorite e-mail client and the merits of Linux vs. Windows. It might not happen in real life, but at least their daughters can play as if it did.

 

Tech blogger Ann All writes that The Society of Women Engineers helped design Computer Engineer Barbie, right down to the “pink-framed glasses and a T-shirt emblazoned with binary code.”

 

Some see this as a way to encourage girls to pursue technology-related careers. Nora Lin, president, Society of Women Engineers, issued a statement saying “All the girls who imagine their futures through Barbie will learn that engineers – like girls – are free to explore infinite possibilities, limited only by their imagination.” 

 

Right. We’re sure girls fantasize about being computer engineers when they play Barbies. But hey, again, nascent geeks can dream of their computer science classes suddenly overrun with Barbie girls.