The joy of Microsoft's 'avoid ghetto' GPS patent-gctid48599

[Ajamu]

hmm, "Not safe to go home" or "No directions or wrong directions to go to grandma's", kwk.......

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The joy of Microsoft's 'avoid ghetto' GPS patent | Technically Incorrect - CNET News

     by Chris Matyszczyk    January 7, 2012 11:59 AM PST

    Pedestrians have sometimes felt neglected when it comes to GPS directions.

 Indeed, not so long ago, one lady sued Google because the directions its map offered led her (she believed) to be struck by a car.

 Now Microsoft has been granted a patent that is designed to make its maps more pedestrian-friendly.

 Somehow, this patent has immediately been dubbed the "avoid ghetto" feature.

 
Someone seems to have already attempted a ghetto-related mapping exercise, in Ohio.
 (Credit: All sizes | mahoning_ghetto_fs3200 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!)

 The gist of it seems to be that Microsoft's GPS--which will reportedly be inserted into Windows Phones in the future--will use input from more varied and up-to-date sources in order to create suggested routes.

 Among these sources are crime statistics. Which has led some to the thought that this will somehow be an insult to poor neighborhoods.

 What is unclear, at least from my reading of the patent--which isn't  written by anything resembling a human hand or mind--is what kind of  crime statistics the GPS might choose to use.

 It's one thing to avoid areas where there might have occurred  physical assaults and gunfire. It's another to avoid, say, places where  burglaries are popular, as one suspects quite a few allegedly nice areas  are subject to burglars' desires.

 With some areas, past performance isn't a guarantee of future  results. What if someone using a route from this system does get mugged,  shot, assaulted, or robbed? Would they feel entitled to sue Microsoft  because the route was supposed to be "ghetto-free"?

 The patent talks about the quality of the information. But quality is  a subjective notion, so one wonders just whose assessment of quality  will be deemed significant.

 The patent also holds within it some other little gems. It seeks to  help the pedestrian avoid "harsh temperatures." Some people like harsh  temperatures, but this system will also store people's pedestrian  information to offer, one assumes, a more personalized heat-level for  the route.

 How personalized should it be, though? My eyes perform slightly odd  twitches when I read this sentence from the patent: "Various features  can integrate with route presentment, such as integrating an  advertisement targeted to a pedestrian with a direction set."

 Is this suggesting that Windows Phones will give pedestrians a route  that will take them past specific ads? What a curious and slightly  mind-altering thought.

 One wonders whether those who use the system might also be offered an "avoid ads" option.