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

[mrasaki]

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,

Comments

[kalliope_us]

I don't think the feature sounds at all racist, but I wouldn't rely on something like that for my safety. I live in a city which can be massively unsafe, and in one neighborhood I lived in the safety went block by block, and shifted frequently, with the drugs. I would never walk in an unfamiliar neighborhood.

[roseofjuly]

You don't ever visit cities you don't live in?

[kalliope_us]

Well, I do, not often, but if I did I would rely on a friend's advice. San Francisco (where I don't live) is kind of similar in its dynamics to Durham, NC,where I do. And some very walkable cities are safe.

[roseofjuly]

Yeah, I know that, but I often find myself walking around in unfamiliar neighborhoods even just in my own city. It's how I find new places. Sometimes I don't always know someone to guide me. And when I go away for conferences or just for pleasure, I like to walk instead of drive if it's possible.

[kalliope_us]

Yes, I love to walk too. My concern with an app would be that the data it was based on was outdated or otherwise inaccurate. I suppose if I found that it was marvelously accurate in my own city I would trust it. I do trust guide books.