HP Probes 'Racist' Webcam Claim

Information Week ^ | Dec 22, 2009 | Paul McDougal

[DCurts]

Now even the computers are racist.

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

PCs that aren’t PC. Amusing.

[MrB]

Technology - dat be racis’!

“Tony “Frosty” Welch”

There’s your problem right there - “Frosty” as in “snowman”, as in “white guy”.

[Bernard]

Before they go any further, HP should first verify that Desi is not a vampire.

[Pharmboy]

Just make it an infra-red camera. Problem solved.

[PackerBoy]

Although not a serious issue of "racism", this is a legitimate functionality issue. Is there a brightness adjustment on the camera or in its software that can correct for this, I wonder?

I, personally, do not like the camera following my head movement; I might like to scratch my nose off camera.

[babygene]

All the black guy would have to is dust his face with talc...

[OneWingedShark]

It’s probably just an error in calibration (ie luminescence) or perhaps background (if it’s similar enough to his skin-tone the computer might not be able to differentiate).

[driftdiver]

I’m surprised he’s smart enough to use the computer.

[LearnsFromMistakes]

ping

[swain_forkbeard]

It makes me wonder if people have difficulty reading the faces of others from dissimilar ethnic or racial backgrounds.

[equalitybeforethelaw]

I’m surprised he’s smart enough to use the computer.

Ouch - that’ll leave a mark.

[AbeKrieger]

Am I hearing that photons discriminate?

[The KG9 Kid]

Of course, if the camera followed black people around the room and left white people alone, Desi would say that camera is even more racist.

[GeronL]

Maybe if he weren’t the same color as the background he wouldn’t have that problem.?

[driftdiver]

I’m sure he would interpret that as racism. Its not, its just commentary on how stupid he is.

[jessduntno]

Maybe the computers are like Senator “Sheets” Byrd (D-KLAN), think they all look the same anyway, so why bother with trying to recognize them?

[conservativeharleyguy]

And Jesse/Al will descend on Palo Alto to demand reparations in.... 3..... 2..... 1.....

[freekitty]

Please stop this madness.

[ConservativeAtLast]

I blame political correctness at the HP testing labs. The folks writing the test scenarios for this hardware were probably too afraid to suggest that there might be skin color specific behavior associated with this device. Don’t want to have to spend another day in sensitivity training!