• slazer2au@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    What would be the benefit in a camera facing away from the user?

    It would be unused in 99% of use cases and the other 1% a external camera is more functional.

      • fubbernuckin@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        4 months ago

        You seem to be in the minority there, maybe an external clip-on webcam is a better solution? I doubt a back-facing webcam would be used very much because most people use laptops like a take-home work station, and they use phones to show things to people (I’m sure there’s a good reason you’re not doing that, it’s just what most people do)

        • ApollosArrow@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          There are some laptops where the screen flips over, I have one of those laptops. I have to say I only use that feature like once every 3months or so.

  • derekabutton@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Why would you be sitting behind the screen? If you need to film a conversation between two people with one webcam…have the webcam face their profiles

    To answer your question directly- because it wouldn’t serve a need that users typically have.

    • QuinnyCoded@sh.itjust.works
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      4 months ago

      have you never been in a workshop and wanted to show someone what you’re working on? it would be awesome to just be able to flip the camera and walk over

      • derekabutton@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        I wouldn’t suggest that there is no use for this kind of camera. Yours is a good example. But for the cost and risk of damage, that is not something that most would want by default in a laptop.

        Also I have a phone with a camera for that purpose

  • sbeak@sopuli.xyz
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    4 months ago

    There’s this neat laptop by Honor (the “MagicBook Art 14” I believe, I think it has the option of either a Snapdragon X Elite or the Intel Core Ultra series processors…) where the webcam magnetically attaches and can be flilled both ways, and tucks in to the side when it is not needed, so the display doesn’t have a notch/hole.

    It’s a gimmicky feature though, most people don’t need something like that, and the people that do have other ways to go about it (e.g. document scanner, smartphone, mirrorless/DSLR camera). Most laptop webcams aren’t very good anyways

    For PCs, I guess you could mount a webcam the other way? For most people you would only see wall.

  • taiyang@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    In my case, it’s because people don’t like all my pictures of the wall behind my computer screen.

  • ilinamorato@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    It’s just not as useful as the rear-facing camera on a phone or tablet. You can’t aim it easily, so it’s stuck pointing slightly downward at the surface it’s sitting on, unless you’re interested in making your screen harder to see.

    Plus it’s more expensive for a feature that few people would find useful.

  • XeroxCool@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Damn, some commenters are just being rude. It’s not a ridiculous question and this is the community for it, even if it was, isn’t it? It’s no real stretch of the imagination to wonder why if phones have great cameras and tablets have good cameras, why don’t laptops offer anything close? I agree, the bulk of the laptop makes it awkward and the demand is low when “everyone” in the primary markets already have a camera phone in their pocket

  • andrewta@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    That camera would be facing the wall. It’s about 6 inches from the back of the monitor to the wall. Also I do not want a camera built into my monitor. Just another thing to break. If I need a web cam I’ll go to my closet and get the camera and plug it into the pc usb port.