Video Daily: HP webcams are 'racist'

Video Daily: HP webcams are 'racist'
Hewlett-Packard is taking heat this week after a video released on YouTube shows an internal problem with HP webcams, the fact that the camera has difficulty in recognizing black people.

The video shows two people, a black man named Desi and a white co-worker, Wanda. The problem is the webcams face recognition software, which in the video clearly does not work with Desi in the frame but works excellently with Wanda on screen.



HP says the problem is with low contrast in low lighting situations and they are working to fix it as soon as possible.



Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 23 Dec 2009 21:00
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  • 39 comments
  • xnonsuchx

    Cripes! What's next...complaining white writing/copier paper is too far preferred over brown/black paper???

    First off, the video was posted because they thought it was funny...THEY weren't really complaining about it. After it got some 'news' coverage, though, unreasonably uppity people online had to start going off as though HP did it on purpose. Are we supposed to change the laws of physics to appease these people?

    I've had black friends joke to me that they have more trouble identifying their black friends from afar or even in dim lighting as opposed to lighter-complexion people, so if a human eye has trouble with the same issue, don't be complaining about a webcam behaving so.

    23.12.2009 21:59 #1

  • KillerBug

    Anyone blaming HP of being racist for this is a racist themselves. Next they will blame their B&W copiers for being racist...they should be African American and Cracker copiers...then they will blame the night sky for being black, and then they will blame the sun for being white.

    This is more annoying than when some stupid b**** tried to boycot Rooms-To-Go because one of their couches used Nigerian Leather...aparently she thought it sounded too close to some other N word, and aparently she had never heard of the country where the leather came from...and what is worse, she got about 50 people supporting her before the store was forced to give them all a mini spelling/geography lesson.

    23.12.2009 22:36 #2

  • embo22000

    Originally posted by KillerBug: Anyone blaming HP of being racist for this is a racist themselves. Next they will blame their B&W copiers for being racist...they should be African American and Cracker copiers...then they will blame the night sky for being black, and then they will blame the sun for being white.

    This is more annoying than when some stupid b**** tried to boycot Rooms-To-Go because one of their couches used Nigerian Leather...aparently she thought it sounded too close to some other N word, and aparently she had never heard of the country where the leather came from...and what is worse, she got about 50 people supporting her before the store was forced to give them all a mini spelling/geography lesson.
    lol.....If you are a minority every time something goes wrong its racism.

    23.12.2009 23:01 #3

  • nuttz565

    Whats racist is the TV channel BET(Black Entertainment Television)Whats racist is the Black American Beauty Pagent.Whats racist is Chris Rock doing a stand up comedy show and talking about "honkey's " and "crackers" for a hour long.There is such a double standard in America it makes me sick.....

    23.12.2009 23:13 #4

  • cyprusrom

    Why is everything in the video "mirrored"? Like the writing on his tag name, or the banners behind him...
    ...don't most HP desktops come in a shiny black case?....

    23.12.2009 23:44 #5

  • fgamer

    Here we go with white people playing this reverse racism stuff again. I see allot of the post here and they are indeed racist, especially this comment which is obviously a lie made by xnonsuchx..

    @xnonsuchx "I've had black friends joke to me that they have more trouble identifying their black friends from afar or even in dim lighting as opposed to lighter-complexion people."

    Nobody black would say anything like that, joking or not, you can tell your own race no matter what complexion they are from facial appearances, likeness or other features from afar just like any other person notices anyone. That's the dumbest most ridiculous racist cover-up comment I've read in a while. The problem isn't with blacks..it's definitely with whites. That's fact..


    Heck look at all the anti-Obama rallies. Take a look at the signs and look at what race those people are...! Exactly.. 99% white. The man aint even done sh*t to deserve the hate he gets..it's laughable. lol..oh yeah he's trying to get healthcare to the poor and low income in this country..so obviously he's a bad bad man (brrrr). Oh wait..we're going bankrupt that's the excuse for the protest..hmm lets see, ..we can find money for wars to go kill people in other countries all the time...but healthcare..oh no lets go protest with racist signs because this definitely has allot to do with healthcare reform. Nuff said..white people are and will always be the biggest racist on this planet. NOT all but quite a few.

    And they weren't complaining about HP actually being racist..they were just having fun with a technical issue that was over looked/missed by HP. No one actually realistically thinks a big computer company that LOVES to sell computers to EVERY creed and race would actually be racist. I think most here are very racist, and from the angry comments people are making about black people having a exclusive cable channel (BET) to themselves makes me laugh (white people can/and do watch it too ya know). It's just a channel that caters to blacks like a goddamn Telemundo channel caters to Latino's, gimme a damn break!! And for the record I don't watch BET or Telemundo.

    24.12.2009 06:16 #6

  • nonoitall

    Originally posted by fgamer: And they weren't complaining about HP actually being racist..they were just having fun with a technical issue that was over looked/missed by HP.QFT.

    24.12.2009 06:31 #7

  • Blackjax

    I normally let the racist comments lie as they do not deserve a comment but I think these do.

    Racism, prejudice and intolerance occurs across ALL cultures, nations and religions. We as humans tend to do dumb things, period!

    So ask yourself this question why continue perpetuate it here?

    If you actually think a large multinational corporation did this type of thing on purpose then you need to think before you speak. Here I'll help you, Large corporation, several countries, diverse work force?

    Duh!


    *spelling corrected*

    24.12.2009 07:08 #8

  • xnonsuchx

    Originally posted by fgamer: Here we go with white people playing this reverse racism stuff again. I see allot of the post here and they are indeed racist, especially this comment which is obviously a lie made by xnonsuchx..

    @xnonsuchx "I've had black friends joke to me that they have more trouble identifying their black friends from afar or even in dim lighting as opposed to lighter-complexion people."

    Nobody black would say anything like that, joking or not, you can tell your own race no matter what complexion they are from facial appearances, likeness or other features from afar just like any other person notices anyone. That's the dumbest most ridiculous racist cover-up comment I've read in a while. The problem isn't with blacks..it's definitely with whites. That's fact..
    I guess you don't know the right black people, then, to be able to make valid judgments. That's too bad...along w/ your apparent lack of education.

    24.12.2009 07:14 #9

  • xnmalletx

    Originally posted by fgamer:


    Heck look at all the anti-Obama rallies. Take a look at the signs and look at what race those people are...! Exactly.. 99% white. The man aint even done sh*t to deserve the hate he gets..it's laughable. lol..oh yeah he's trying to get healthcare to the poor and low income in this country..so obviously he's a bad bad man (brrrr). Oh wait..we're going bankrupt that's the excuse for the protest..hmm lets see, ..we can find money for wars to go kill people in other countries all the time...but healthcare..oh no lets go protest with racist signs because this definitely has allot to do with healthcare reform. Nuff said..white people are and will always be the biggest racist on this planet. NOT all but quite a few.
    You just stated that if you dislike the president, then you are racist. I am sick of that argument. I don't support the healthcare bill because of the 10 million Americans that will lose their private insurance; not because he is black. I actually have two african american friends that do not support Obama. Learn not to be such an ignorant jerk.

    24.12.2009 07:43 #10

  • matt72

    I think everyone has taken this a little too far. I will request a moderator close this topic as there is no need for any type of negative comments regarding race or religion. This site is too diverse in people that visit that this could turn into a messy topic as opposed to being civilized.

    24.12.2009 08:37 #11

  • bdoggie08

    I wholeheartedly agree with the above posted comment. Wow, in all the time that I have been reading comments and articles on afterdawn, this is by far the silliest and most ignorant rants ever! Credibility for all you ppl is now depleted because of ignorance. wow.

    24.12.2009 09:13 #12

  • creaky

    The decision to close would be with Andre as it's his article, but i'll certainly be reading thru the replies to see what's what; what i will say is that i absolutely will not tolerate racism, period, just as i won't in real life. I didn't grow up ignorant about such things but unfortunately far too many people out there do, so let's make sure that posts don't even joke about racism as it's not funny, it's a vile, unnecessary 'thing', it all boils down to ignorance, always has and always will. Different people have different opinions and race is a very strong candidate for being careful what we post. Obviously i accept that these days everything in sight gets clobbered due to political correctness but racism is still racism so bear that in mind before posting.



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    24.12.2009 09:18 #13

  • Amak

    Hehe, sometimes you need to lighten up. People who can laugh at something that can easily be misinterpreted as racist etc. knows how to have fun.

    24.12.2009 10:40 #14

  • blueboy09

    i totally agre with you too, creaky. There's absolutely NO REASON why the posters argue and complain about a small issue such as this. Honestly, it's the posters that respond poorly herw that really need to grow up. End of story. - BLUEBOY

    24.12.2009 10:53 #15

  • res08hao

    Hopefully it's just political correctness, because the crime rate for blacks is too high for this not to work.

    24.12.2009 11:36 #16

  • jookycola

    The video is very light hearted and funny. This is not an attack just a funny video showing a flaw. why is everyone getting all worked up. This wasn't some angry black guy complaining, it's was actually very funny.

    24.12.2009 11:47 #17

  • tru003

    Originally posted by fgamer: Here we go with white people playing this reverse racism stuff again. I see allot of the post here and they are indeed racist, especially this comment which is obviously a lie made by xnonsuchx..

    @xnonsuchx "I've had black friends joke to me that they have more trouble identifying their black friends from afar or even in dim lighting as opposed to lighter-complexion people."

    Nobody black would say anything like that, joking or not, you can tell your own race no matter what complexion they are from facial appearances, likeness or other features from afar just like any other person notices anyone. That's the dumbest most ridiculous racist cover-up comment I've read in a while. The problem isn't with blacks..it's definitely with whites. That's fact..


    Heck look at all the anti-Obama rallies. Take a look at the signs and look at what race those people are...! Exactly.. 99% white. The man aint even done sh*t to deserve the hate he gets..it's laughable. lol..oh yeah he's trying to get healthcare to the poor and low income in this country..so obviously he's a bad bad man (brrrr). Oh wait..we're going bankrupt that's the excuse for the protest..hmm lets see, ..we can find money for wars to go kill people in other countries all the time...but healthcare..oh no lets go protest with racist signs because this definitely has allot to do with healthcare reform. Nuff said..white people are and will always be the biggest racist on this planet. NOT all but quite a few.

    And they weren't complaining about HP actually being racist..they were just having fun with a technical issue that was over looked/missed by HP. No one actually realistically thinks a big computer company that LOVES to sell computers to EVERY creed and race would actually be racist. I think most here are very racist, and from the angry comments people are making about black people having a exclusive cable channel (BET) to themselves makes me laugh (white people can/and do watch it too ya know). It's just a channel that caters to blacks like a goddamn Telemundo channel caters to Latino's, gimme a damn break!! And for the record I don't watch BET or Telemundo.
    I couldn't said it better myself. I black(Creole)and I don't care for BET either.

    nuttz565,
    If you want to bring up that BET only caters to black folks. Take a look at 106 and Park. Even though the vast majority of the audience is black there are still plenty of Latinos, Caucasians, and Asians in the crowd. Hell one of the hosts is a Latina. They even have several guest(actors, rappers and singers) on the show who were white, Latino, and Asian. Freestyle Friday's same thing no discrimination there. BET was designed like Telemundo to have more minorities on tv. So why don't you do your research before you make your comments?

    Besides this was all for fun.

    24.12.2009 12:09 #18

  • DVDBack23

    Originally posted by creaky: The decision to close would be with Andre as it's his article, but i'll certainly be reading thru the replies to see what's what; what i will say is that i absolutely will not tolerate racism, period, just as i won't in real life. I didn't grow up ignorant about such things but unfortunately far too many people out there do, so let's make sure that posts don't even joke about racism as it's not funny, it's a vile, unnecessary 'thing', it all boils down to ignorance, always has and always will. Different people have different opinions and race is a very strong candidate for being careful what we post. Obviously i accept that these days everything in sight gets clobbered due to political correctness but racism is still racism so bear that in mind before posting.Hey Creaky, I see no reason to close it, but much appreciate you monitoring the more fight-inducing posts. As for the video, as you can tell by the smirking nature of the black man in the video, this was done in jest to bring to light a technical glitch in the software. Obviously HP is not racist, but on the same hand they should have tested the software with more variables before releasing it.

    24.12.2009 12:18 #19

  • KillerBug

    Hate of Obama does not make you a racist; it makes you smart. If you don't hate the president, then you are not paying attention...and that goes for all presidents; not just arab ones.

    24.12.2009 12:19 #20

  • John_Donn

    Originally posted by KillerBug: Hate of Obama does not make you a racist; it makes you smart. If you don't hate the president, then you are not paying attention...and that goes for all presidents; not just arab ones.Agreed

    24.12.2009 12:28 #21

  • tru003

    Originally posted by KillerBug: Hate of Obama does not make you a racist; it makes you smart. If you don't hate the president, then you are not paying attention...and that goes for all presidents; not just arab ones.
    Hate is such a strong word.
    How can you hate someone you don't even know anyway? I don't agree with all of President Obama's policies. But the last time I check he took over this train wreck that was created by his predecessor "Mr Bush". So you can't sit here and blame him for the current problems that are taking place right now. As for the comment about Arab....well maybe I'm taking this the wrong way. Were you referring that the Prez is Arab? If so you need to go back and do some research. Enough about politics. They were just trying to be funny.

    24.12.2009 13:32 #22

  • ThePastor

    Oh my gosh!
    I opened this thread because this is just funny as hell. If you cannot see the humor here then well, maybe you've got problems.
    My whole office (regardless of skin color) is rolling!

    And as for the reversed video, I've heard that that is usually done to obscure copywrite/trademark material. Sort of a cheap "blur" for logos.

    24.12.2009 14:00 #23

  • creaky

    I posted purely to make sure some we don't get any unwanted comments, hadn't actually watched the video.
    Have now watched it and yes it's funny, and what a booboo to make with the camera. I had a Logitech webcam quite some years ago that had this functionality, so thumbs down to HP for this foulup.



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    24.12.2009 14:14 #24

  • xnonsuchx

    It's just too bad more people aren't more open-minded and feel the need to assume so much incorrectly about others without knowing them at all.

    I would LOVE to be around the day that white supremacists (including quite a few Republicans, apparently...like Rep. Joe Wilson???) realize they have become a minority in the US just to see the look on their faces. :-)

    24.12.2009 14:38 #25

  • KillerBug

    Quote:Originally posted by KillerBug: Hate of Obama does not make you a racist; it makes you smart. If you don't hate the president, then you are not paying attention...and that goes for all presidents; not just arab ones.
    Hate is such a strong word.
    How can you hate someone you don't even know anyway? I don't agree with all of President Obama's policies. But the last time I check he took over this train wreck that was created by his predecessor "Mr Bush". So you can't sit here and blame him for the current problems that are taking place right now. As for the comment about Arab....well maybe I'm taking this the wrong way. Were you referring that the Prez is Arab? If so you need to go back and do some research. Enough about politics. They were just trying to be funny.
    Do you know Hitler? Stalin? Torquemada? Tepes? Eichmann?

    Yes, I hate all presidents and most politicians...they make lawyers seem like honest, caring people.

    As to the arab comment, he is technicaly 50% caucasion, and 43.75% Arabic. Since no one considers him white, he is arabic. Or, you could just call him a man...and a scumbag politician as well.

    25.12.2009 00:16 #26

  • dragnandy

    LOL i found this rather funny. i thought this video was meant to be funny because obviously the two workers were chuckling and laughing. it is pretty clear that it is a contrast issue or something, and Desi is just taking an extreme view as a joke.

    25.12.2009 00:21 #27

  • al92lt1

    Originally posted by blueboy09: i totally agre with you too, creaky. There's absolutely NO REASON why the posters argue and complain about a small issue such as this. Honestly, it's the posters that respond poorly herw that really need to grow up. End of story. - BLUEBOY
    AGRE? Don't you know how to check your spelling?

    25.12.2009 17:04 #28

  • atomicxl

    They should test more stuff for black people. It's fact that black people having a different tone than white people. LOL, some might say it's the opposite tone. Just because your device works well on one doesn't mean it will work on one that's radically different.

    I think people get so caught up in being PC and "not seeing race" that they mess up big time on stuff like this that requires you to take color into account.

    25.12.2009 17:15 #29

  • cyprusrom

    Originally posted by atomicxl: ...

    I think people get so caught up in being PC and "not seeing race" that they mess up big time on stuff like this that requires you to take color into account.

    Is black or white really a colour?

    25.12.2009 17:50 #30

  • xnonsuchx

    Quote:Originally posted by atomicxl: ...

    I think people get so caught up in being PC and "not seeing race" that they mess up big time on stuff like this that requires you to take color into account.

    Is black or white really a colour?
    Brown or peach, then???

    "It doesn't matter. We're all pink inside." -- Kids in the Hall skit

    25.12.2009 21:02 #31

  • CarpeSol

    You guys do realize that whole video was a joke, right?

    25.12.2009 21:56 #32

  • cyprusrom

    Maybe we're all born pink on the inside...some people become quite darker inside, more than what they show it on the outside...

    I was just asking, because there is a whole debate about whether black and white are truly colors...which i think is a more interesting subject than the whole crap perpetuated by some people here i this thread...take some funny stuff and turn it into something really ugly...

    25.12.2009 21:59 #33

  • lubricant

    Originally posted by KillerBug: Hate of Obama does not make you a racist; it makes you smart. <-- Way to appeal to the ego there. everytime someones says obama sucks i say hes probably a better choice than mccain.

    26.12.2009 10:55 #34

  • res08hao

    edited by ddp

    26.12.2009 13:00 #35

  • cyprusrom

    Happy Holidays everybody!!!

    26.12.2009 15:03 #36

  • ddp

    cyprusrom, can you edit your post.

    26.12.2009 21:30 #37

  • Xplorer4

    Originally posted by tru003:
    BET was designed like Telemundo to have more minorities on tv. So why don't you do your research before you make your comments?

    Besides this was all for fun.

    I dont believe that. The channel has evolved as you pointed out, but seems they could have named it MET(Mixed Entertainment Chanel) if that was the case rather then singling out a race. I don't mind BET, nor am I racist, but the name doesnt sound like it was intended with bringing a mix of minorities to Tv bur rather a single minority.

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    27.12.2009 07:03 #38

  • xnonsuchx

    Quote:Originally posted by tru003:
    BET was designed like Telemundo to have more minorities on tv. So why don't you do your research before you make your comments?

    Besides this was all for fun.

    I dont believe that. The channel has evolved as you pointed out, but seems they could have named it MET(Mixed Entertainment Chanel) if that was the case rather then singling out a race. I don't mind BET, nor am I racist, but the name doesnt sound like it was intended with bringing a mix of minorities to Tv bur rather a single minority.
    They should name it CTT...for Camel Toe Theater. :-) Maybe that's just late at night, though.

    27.12.2009 20:27 #39

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