Germany: Xbox One Is A Monitoring Device

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It looks like Germany "is screaming Überwachungsgerät" over the Xbox One. As much as people have been freaking out about privacy concerns over the Kinect 2, it's not like this was unexpected. I guess you could always user the privacy controls or turn it off when you aren't using it.

'Microsoft pushes a monitoring device in the market," Schaar told SPIEGEL. "The Xbox continuously records all sorts of personal information about me. Reaction rates, my learning or emotional states. The are then processed on an external server, and possibly even passed on to third parties. Whether they will ever deleted, the person can not influence."
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Can't say that I disagree. MS is going to take it in the pants this round. It is going to be a tough race bw them and EA for most hated company.

Just a series of bad design choices here. Glad I don't give a shit beyond how it effects my pc.
 
It's not like any of you didn't see this coming, whether it be MS or not. I know it's vogue to hate on MS, but all the big boys are doing this to some extent. It's only going to get worse too. Not that it's right or that we can't try to fight it, but it's going to happen at some point. Heck Google is pulling us back into the old spyware cookie days of the 90's almost now. The fact of the matter is corporate America (heck World) is getting out of control as they attempt to exert their distended capitalism on us. I know it's to the nth degree, but check out a show called Continuum. Chilling world of what could be.
 
HA wonder how they will like all the facial info they get form my closet door... cause that is where I put my consoles...
 
Where I come from people that behave like this are known as Drama Queen's.

I haven't heard one valid complaint about the Xbox One itself. There have been lots of valid complaints about the presentation that was made, which I agree was pretty lame, but the complaints about the system itself are all just a bunch of people trying to blow everything out of proportion as far as possible to add some drama to their lives.
 
Here's how this is going to go:

Microsoft is soaking in all the nerd-rage now. Come E3 (since they haven't given any difinitive answers on anything) they will announce the opposite of what everyone is bitching about. If cornered on changing stance it will be the ol' "we listened to our fanbase" and everyone will have been raging for nothing.


The PS3 is going to sell well to its fans.

The Xbox Uno is going to sell well to its fans.

PC owners still laughing at both.

The race is going to be exactly the same as it is now with different consoles.



The only monkey wrench? If one of the two prices their console at $599 and up. Sony says it is not selling at a loss this time (can't afford to) and Microsoft has been mum on pricing. Either way, if one prices high while the other doesn't, it could sway sales in their favor BUT...

....for the most part....

Sony fans = PS4
Microsoft fans = Xbox One
Konw it alls complaining will still have neither, be an expert on both. :cool:
 
bloodhawke83 said:
what if i am doing my neighbor's wife? or your sister?
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It might present a convenient way to get your sex tape onto the internet ... no muss, no fuss ... and as long as your video is the only thing that goes viral you are good :D
 
Fear and cowardness on the part of international governments everywhere.

I stand behind Microsoft, Google, and any other company pushing the envelop. If you idiots really think engineers at these companie sit there all day spying on you then you are just plain WRONG.
 
I bought my Kinect appliance nearly 2 years ago.
Since than, I've played not more than 3-4 hours of Dance revolution, and that REZ-style game.

Outside of that, I've never really liked the shoddy Kinect hand gestures, voice support is a pain in the ass (or goes off when you don't want it to), and there's yet to be ONE killer app outside of dancing and Sesame Street kids bullshit that I've seen to be worthy of my purchase.

Since the RROD situation back in the day, this is the other time when Microsoft has let me down with this console.

It's so useless outside of novelty. What Microsoft thinks is that people WANT to use this device to bring them "into the game." Well frankly, I'd rather have that damn projection TV "Illumiroom" thing than the Kinect 2.0.
I don't want my face, body gestures, voice inflection/tone, or anything else to be used outside of an email address to bind me to a console.
It's not fair that in order to continue down the Microsoft eco-system that I need to pretty much give up my biometrics.
While I understand the lines between being a private and public consumer are starting to blur day by day, this really put it over the edge with me.

Seriously XBOX Owners with Kinect:
How much have you used your Kinect-based features and games?

[H] really needs to do a [Hard] Forum Poll.
 
Steve said:
Here's how this is going to go:

Microsoft is soaking in all the nerd-rage now. Come E3 (since they haven't given any difinitive answers on anything) they will announce the opposite of what everyone is bitching about. If cornered on changing stance it will be the ol' "we listened to our fanbase" and everyone will have been raging for nothing.


The PS3 is going to sell well to its fans.

The Xbox Uno is going to sell well to its fans.

PC owners still laughing at both.

The race is going to be exactly the same as it is now with different consoles.



The only monkey wrench? If one of the two prices their console at $599 and up. Sony says it is not selling at a loss this time (can't afford to) and Microsoft has been mum on pricing. Either way, if one prices high while the other doesn't, it could sway sales in their favor BUT...

....for the most part....

Sony fans = PS4
Microsoft fans = Xbox One
Konw it alls complaining will still have neither, be an expert on both. :cool:
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I agree with everything you've said except the pricing.
MS went with DDR3 to keep the price down. They also have to the funds to take a loss on the hardware. I think the XBone will be $399 to 499.

There is NO way that Sony can afford to take a massive loss on the hardware and that GDDR5 is insanely expensive (estimated to be about $140US just for the memory) They are barely staying afloat as it is. The PS4 will $599 at a minimum.
 
Terminus said:
Fear and cowardness on the part of international governments everywhere.

I stand behind Microsoft, Google, and any other company pushing the envelop. If you idiots really think engineers at these companie sit there all day spying on you then you are just plain WRONG.
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No you are WRONG, obviously.
 
Terminus said:
Fear and cowardness on the part of international governments everywhere.

I stand behind Microsoft, Google, and any other company pushing the envelop. If you idiots really think engineers at these companie sit there all day spying on you then you are just plain WRONG.
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its not the engineers at these companies that im concerned about.
 
It does not matter what it has or does not have to me if they keep requiring a monthly fee to access the internet.

I mainly game on a PC anyway. My PS3 is primarily for Blu Ray and streaming video.
 
It's the sale or theft of data that people should be concerned about. I didn't sire any crotch fruit so consoles don't interest me but at $500-600 a piece, why not build a proper computer? I'd buy one if there was a masturbation simulator for the kinect.
 
Sure, you could turn the xbox and the required kinect off at the powerstrip but why should you have to? Oh it will have privacy controls, they say, trust us they say... If I were in marketing at MS I would make those privacy controls do nothing but put a graphical representation of a check mark in a box. How would 99% of people know what MS is transmitting back to the cloud? They wouldn't.

Hmmmmmm, marketing data ughghghuhghgh drool. I would love a peek at those big data sets and I'm sure it would be very profitable for MS to sell those on as well.
 
harbingerofdoom said:
its not the engineers at these companies that im concerned about.
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Yeah I know, its hackers and big govt.

But what was that old Ben Franklin saying?
"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety"
 
Terminus said:
Yeah I know, its hackers and big govt.

But what was that old Ben Franklin saying?
"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety"
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No, he meant marketing departments.
 
face2palm said:
I agree with everything you've said except the pricing.
MS went with DDR3 to keep the price down. They also have to the funds to take a loss on the hardware. I think the XBone will be $399 to 499.

There is NO way that Sony can afford to take a massive loss on the hardware and that GDDR5 is insanely expensive (estimated to be about $140US just for the memory) They are barely staying afloat as it is. The PS4 will $599 at a minimum.
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We said the same thing, I think mine is just worded poorly. :)

auspexd said:
Sure, you could turn the xbox and the required kinect off at the powerstrip...
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It has a regular power button.
 
DPI said:
No, he meant marketing departments.
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Why is that a problem? You do want these companies to make money and produce more technology right? Or do you think these companies exist just to make you feel better?

I rather all ad money go to tech companies and not telecoms, banks, and all the rest of the real worthless entities out there.
 
Steve said:
It has a regular power button.
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Yeah, but does that button turn it all the way off or is it just a soft off? As I'm sure you are aware a whole lot of electronics don't actually turn off anymore when you push the power button. They hibernate while still drawing power. Just saying...
 
Terminus said:
Fear and cowardness on the part of international governments everywhere.

I stand behind Microsoft, Google, and any other company pushing the envelop. If you idiots really think engineers at these companie sit there all day spying on you then you are just plain WRONG.
Click to expand...

If you think that's what the issue is, then you're not using your imagination.
 
DPI said:
No, he meant marketing departments.
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But just think of all the helpful suggestions your appliance might offer:

Ooh ... we notice you're getting a little tubby there ... perhaps you would like to buy our new Zumba simulator from our Live store

We notice you haven't had any female companionship in a while ... perhaps you would like to rent Beach Blanket Bimbos VI from the Live Store

We notice you have been reading about the PS4 on your browser ... perhaps you would like to see this helpful pamphlet on how the PS4 causes brain cancer and impotency

Of course, if it starts telling me "Would you kindly" instead, I will really worry

:D
 
No one should be dumb enough to buy a device that has the capability and the stated mission of observing you this closely and then sending that info ANYWHERE.

No one should buy it, period. No one.

The fact that people might buy it shows a vast idiocy and lack of individuality on a core level.

In other words, not a good comment for the future of society.
 
Terminus said:
Fear and cowardness on the part of international governments everywhere.

I stand behind Microsoft, Google, and any other company pushing the envelop. If you idiots really think engineers at these companie sit there all day spying on you then you are just plain WRONG.
Click to expand...

Pushing the envelop on what? Collection as much information about individuals as they can? Enjoy your MS Telescreen One.

Orwell got it terribly wrong. People are willing to pay for their own spying now.
 
PornoSatan said:
Targeted advertising is getting pretty damn out of hand
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Well ..., let's think about this ..., would you rather see ads which are relevant to you (targeted), or ads that have no relevance at all (like the random crap you see on Hulu)?
 
Thuleman said:
Well ..., let's think about this ..., would you rather see ads which are relevant to you (targeted), or ads that have no relevance at all (like the random crap you see on Hulu)?
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I don't know about you but I love to see tampon commercials and feminine hygiene commercials ... even though my male plumbing needs neither of those items ... I can ignore either targeted or untargeted ads equally well but the targeted one is much more likely to occasionally hit something I need ...

my grocery store discount card is the ultimate targeted ad and I LOVE IT ... they know exactly what I buy and how often I buy it so I see lots of sales on the items I want to buy ... would be nice if more places worked that way :D
 
Man... Youtube is constantly suggesting I watch videos that I've already seen.

I like all ads ironically... except for those that I feel like are actually stereotyping me... so I'd rather see totally irrelevant ads, all the time.
 
Xbox One, the box that watches back.
Terminus said:
Why is that a problem? You do want these companies to make money and produce more technology right? Or do you think these companies exist just to make you feel better?

I rather all ad money go to tech companies and not telecoms, banks, and all the rest of the real worthless entities out there.
Click to expand...

I think your confused about who presumably paid who for an xb1. If it does spy for marketing revenue, its the person that owns the box that should be paid directly. Not MS who might reinvest it or might issue a big dividend this quarter instead.. Seriously you pay for the privilege of someone else making money off you and that's cool?. That's not capitalism. That's being a tool.
 
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