Can a laptop be racist?

That’s what a man in Texas claims — with tongue in cheek.

The young camping-store salesman named Desi has even made a video (see below) with his colleague Wanda to prove how a “state-of-the-art” HP laptop with its built-in video camera discriminates against black people. “I think my blackness is interfering with the computer’s ability to follow me,” he says. The video camera installed in the computer in question has face-tracking software and is supposed to move and adjust as Desi moves around in front of it. It doesn’t.

But it seems to work fine with “White Wanda.”

Watching the video, you will learn many things:

1. What laptop not to buy if you are dark skinned.
2. Desi, with his easy on-air style and voice that sounds remarkably similar to that of Will Smith, is a natural in front of the camera — even though this HP webcam acted as if he didn’t exist. His charm, which adds humour to the shocking video, could land him a TV gig: perhaps a tech show pointing out the worst gadgets on the market, or at least the ones that fail to live up to their ‘fair’ claims.
3. How to get someone fired — or at least demoted to the mail room. Because if HP has not done it yet, they should, because claiming that the webcam on their MediaSmart laptop has face-tracking software is a bit inaccurate when it won’t recognise the faces of, probably, billions of people worldwide.
4. The importance of diversity in quality assurance departments.

HP has responded to the criticism of its product with a entry on its Voodoo Blog, which basically blames the camera’s apathy towards Desi on lighting:

The technology we use is built on standard algorithms that measure the difference in intensity of contrast between the eyes and the upper cheek and nose. We believe that the camera might have difficulty “seeing” contrast in conditions where there is insufficient foreground lighting. While we work on this, take a look here for more information on the impact of lighting on facial tracking software, and how to optimize your webcam experience.

Oh. Is that statement supposed to help?

Who would you axe: a lead programmer, a quality assurance leader, a product manager or a project manager?

Perhaps the name HP will become a verb for discriminatory practices? (He’ll never get a job at that Texas company because the recruiting manager will HP him.)

Or will someone find a use for this selective technology? Maybe an ‘exclusive,’ old-school country club could use this software at their front gates?

Click the play arrow below to watch Desi and Wanda’s YouTube video and decide for yourself how badly HP has messed up.