T3 Magazine equates girls in swimsuits to phone models. Choose one...

I was browsing through the featured publications on Zinio’s iPad app today and came across the August digital edition of T3 Magazine. It’s worth a passing glance, I think. Look closely because I’ve got a question for you below, ok?

So.

Which phone (or girl) would you choose?

Would it be sultry and utterly sophisticated Nokia N900? The bold, assertive Apple iPhone? The HTC HD Mini bombshell? The desirous HTC Desire? Or the cheeky, fun Bold 9700 siren?

Just £35/month on an 18-month contract…

Update: One reader has taken issue with me for not adding a critique of sorts along with this post. I didn’t feel there was much need for a critique per se. I thought it was patently clear — as Tomi Ahonen commented just now, this is how you sell tech magazines.

I’m not concerned with propagating sexism to the MIR audience. You are all highly evolved people as you continue to prove, many a time. I am very confident not one of my readers will be seriously — in the cold light of day — equating a woman’s worth to society with that of a mobile telephony device.

My issue with T3’s Magazine’s front cover (yes, it’s intended to be eye-catching for it’s readers) is the inclusion of the Nokia N900 included instead of the Nokia N8 due out shortly. The N900 was never really meant as a prime time top-of-the-range look-at-me device. Indeed, the executives at Nokia even said so. I think next generation MeeGo devices may well stand-up to scrutiny, but the N900 (despite being a super device in terms of capabilities) isn’t what I’d consider a prime time Nokia device. I was rather concerned to see it being ranged by Vodafone as a consumer device. I’ve met quite a few consumers who’ve assumed it was the next step up from the N-Series they used to own — and found themselves rather limited.

I also don’t think the HTC Mini HD should be in the line-up either.

The other dimension to this post was Zinio. I seriously recommend checking out the app, particularly on the iPad as it’s a glorious experience. I’ll post more on that soon.