Monday, June 4, 2001		On Hardware

Say it with palmtop computer and mobile phones
Michelle Green

FORGET flowers. Today’s women would much rather be wooed with gadgets, according to new research published in Britain.

No longer are men expected to swim shark-infested waters or scale tall buildings to deliver a box of chocolates. These days a trip to the local electronics store will more than suffice.

In a series of experiments monitoring a woman’s reaction to certain types of presents, scientists at Britain’s University of Hertfordshire found that hi-tech toys aroused the greatest response, the Daily Express newspaper reported. Psychologists wired men and women up to a machine called a "psycho-galvanometer" for tests commissioned by the Internet retailer amazon.co.uk. Like a lie detector, the machine measures arousal levels by how the skin resists a small electrical current.

Ten men and 10 women were tested and various gadgets shown to them, the newspaper said.

Results showed that women got more aroused at being given gadgets as gifts. The biggest response came from women given a DVD player.

"It’s clear that flowers and chocolates really don’t do it for women any more, so men should make sure they go for the coolest, shiniest gadgets," psychologist Dr Adam Johnson who carried out the study said.

"The results show that the gifts we traditionally perceive as romantic fail to impress men or women today."

Six out of the 10 women tested said their love lives suffered if they did not have their mobile phone or palmtop computer with them. More than four in 10 men said they would be lost without their gadgets and almost all said the items played a big role in the way they conducted their relationships.