This App Was Made For Walking — But Is It Racist?

[vta]

Geez...

Microsoft is under fire this week over a patent it was granted that's been dubbed the "avoid ghetto" feature for GPS devices. The new feature is meant to help pedestrians avoid unsafe neighborhoods, bad weather and difficult terrain by taking information from maps, weather reports, crime statistics and demographics and creating directions that, according to the patent, take "the user through neighborhoods with violent crime statistics below a certain threshold."

Link

 

[tupperware]

Wow what a reach. It's designed to keep you out of areas likely to have a higher crime rate. Those are just statistics, nothing more, nothing less. Saying this is racist is more of a problem with the way the accusers think.

 

[rkell87]

how is this racist? seriously if it avoids neighborhoods based on crime stats, how can anyone claim racism?

people seriously look for anything to complain about, i saw today that people were complaining about the modern family episode last night because the little girl 'said' the f word a few times. of course she didn't actually say the word she said ffffffff and they bleep and blur her mouth.:bang2: :bang2: :bang2: :bang2: :bang2: :bang2: :bang2: :bang2: :bang2: :bang2: :bang2: :bang2: :bang2:

 

[iceberg]

how is this racist? seriously if it avoids neighborhoods based on crime stats, how can anyone claim racism?

people seriously look for anything to complain about, i saw today that people were complaining about the modern family episode last night because the little girl 'said' the f word a few times. of course she didn't actually say the word she said ffffffff and they bleep and blur her mouth.:bang2: :bang2: :bang2: :bang2: :bang2: :bang2: :bang2: :bang2: :bang2: :bang2: :bang2: :bang2: :bang2:

being overlysensitive is the latest fad so people will jump on any reason to do it and 'be cool' - but in this case cool is just stupid.

 

[rkell87]

being overlysensitive is the latest fad so people will jump on any reason to do it and 'be cool' - but in this case cool is just stupid.

i don't think it is a fad, it has been around for a while now and im afraid it will be here till we are gone

 

[iceberg]

i don't think it is a fad, it has been around for a while now and im afraid it will be here till we are gone

we just have to learn to tell them to go * themselves. you pick the * word.

 

[tupperware]

This is desperately begging for some parody video on youtube with a soccer mom driving a van using her touch screen GPS to avoid certain neighborhoods.

 

[5Stars]

It's kind of racist. I mean, what if the thugs driving around looking for places like this and the GPS guides them in the wrong direction?

Thugs, crack addicts, murderers, rapists, prostitutes have right too, you know!

 

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

*** how is this racist? A criminal can be any race black, white, mexican, chinese, etc.

 

[vta]

*** how is this racist? A criminal can be any race black, white, mexican, chinese, etc.

The complaint says more about the person lodging it than does the product. And that's almost always the case.

 

[tupperware]

The complaint says more about the person lodging it than does the product. And that's almost always the case.

That's exactly right.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

The real problem here is that this over the edge PC thing is eventually going to cause a swing the other way. When the swing comes, it will swing just as drastically to the other side. It is madness to continue to act this way but they will continue to do it until people get feed up and then these same people will be the victim of so pretty sever treatment on the swing side.


It's not hard to figure out. Use a little common sense and a lot less stupidity.

 

[5Stars]

The real problem here is that this over the edge PC thing is eventually going to cause a swing the other way. When the swing comes, it will swing just as drastically to the other side. It is madness to continue to act this way but they will continue to do it until people get feed up and then these same people will be the victim of so pretty sever treatment on the swing side.


It's not hard to figure out. Use a little common sense and a lot less stupidity.

Buy a map....plan out where you want to go? And go, just be careful where you go and watch out.

Have fun...knucklehead.

 

[JonJon]

It's not racist. Ghettos and dangerous neighborhoods come in several varieties involving many ethnic groups. I'm black, and there are some predominantly Black neighborhoods I wouldn't dare to go, the same for certain predominantly White, Mexican, etc neighborhoods. It has nothing to do with race, but everything to do with safety.

 

[The30YardSlant]

*** how is this racist? A criminal can be any race black, white, mexican, chinese, etc.

Statistically, you can typically predict the relative crime rate of an area based on the racial makeup of said area. High crime areas in this country generally correlate with high hispanic and black populations. Because of this, ANYTHING that targets or places a focus on high crime areas is deemed racist because it is singling out those groups...or so they say

The reality is that this thing operates on statistical data. The fact that said data happens to cast a negative light on areas that have high minority populations is the fault of nobody but the people responsible for the culture of crime in those areas. There are plenty of heavily minority areas with low crime rates, it says nothing about the race of the people but rather the culture in certain areas.

 

[Longboysfan]

Geez...




Link

Al Sharpton will be leading a protest of this.

Gots to get the tourists into the neighborhood to relieve them of some of the 1% to the 99%.

 

[visionary]

Statistically, you can typically predict the relative crime rate of an area based on the racial makeup of said area. High crime areas in this country generally correlate with high hispanic and black populations. Because of this, ANYTHING that targets or places a focus on high crime areas is deemed racist because it is singling out those groups...or so they say

The reality is that this thing operates on statistical data. The fact that said data happens to cast a negative light on areas that have high minority populations is the fault of nobody but the people responsible for the culture of crime in those areas. There are plenty of heavily minority areas with low crime rates, it says nothing about the race of the people but rather the culture in certain areas.

OK, if you are going to try to make sense, we will have a tough time agreeing

 

[ethiostar]

Statistically, you can typically predict the relative crime rate of an area based on the racial makeup of said area. High crime areas in this country generally correlate with high hispanic and black populations. Because of this, ANYTHING that targets or places a focus on high crime areas is deemed racist because it is singling out those groups...or so they say

The reality is that this thing operates on statistical data. The fact that said data happens to cast a negative light on areas that have high minority populations is the fault of nobody but the people responsible for the culture of crime in those areas. There are plenty of heavily minority areas with low crime rates, it says nothing about the race of the people but rather the culture in certain areas.

Here is another way of saying what you said without attaching it to race/ethnicity....

Statistically, you can typically predict the relative crime rate of an area based on the socioeconomic status of said area.

This most often holds true regardless the country and its racial/ethnic makeup. It also happens that low socioeconomic areas of most countries are also occupied by ethnic groups (not just "black" and "brown" but broader definitions of ethnic groups around the world) with histories of discrimination.

 

[TheCount]

Will there be an "Avoid Trailer Park" feature as well? I'm sure minorities would love to be able to avoid getting caught in some dark, country backroad as well. :laugh2:

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Will there be an "Avoid Trailer Park" feature as well? I'm sure minorities would love to be able to avoid getting caught in some dark, country backroad as well. :laugh2:

Wrong. They actually have an app that will locate any trailer park in the US and provide information on designated areas, specific to each lot, for broken down cars, trucks and tractors. It's pretty handy actually. They call it the Toby Keith Trailorhood App. Currently, it's only available in certain states. I think Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and of course, Texas.