@Carl2291
Yes your camera is built into your phone but you suck it up and use it. All calls you make can be monitored but you suck it up and use it. Either you will suck it up and purchase an Xbox One at some point or you won't. MS has a strategy with bundling the Kinect and the interface is built around Kinect functions. It can be controlled with a game pad but that is a clunky solution. MS wants to offer new ways to interact with a console.

It seems like some hardcore Xbox enthusiasts have problems really understanding the question, so let me rephrase it in my own words:

"As everyone on this website knows, there are many people who are afraid of Kinect spying on them. They find it suspicious that an external device, that can easily be attached and unattached because it has a cable and a connector, must necessarily be connected for the console to work, especially since that was no problem with Xbox 360 and Kinect 1. They find that strange, especially since Microsoft seemingly reacted to these privacy concerns by now allowing the the device to be completely turned off in the settings.

No matter if these fears of Kinect spying on them make any sense or are just paranoia, it cannot be denied that many people are indeed worried about this and may simply not buy the console for that reason. Obviously, a person who does not completely trust Microsoft (if only for the recent reports about Microsoft helping the NSA to access even encrypted emails, Skype calls etc.), will hardly be convinced by an additional software switch built into the same firmware they don't trust, but their fears could easily be dissolved by unplugging the sensor.

So, why didn't Microsoft simply choose the obvious solution, namely to allow for Kinect simply not to be plugged in?"

Just unplug the power. Get up off your couch and unplug the power. Oh and take the battery out of your phone, cause it's always listening. also always online. duck tap your windows and board up your windows. There coming to get you. LOL

Call this guy cause he has all the info you need.

well why???, because they don't want to or it doesn't make sense to use a XB1 without it... who knows.... does it really matter ?/???? it's like that either way so why keep asking the question.... it sounds like an annoying pre teen asking annoying question again and again that will absolutely change nothing no matter the answer....

now motion a fad long gone.....??? heck no... for casual maybe.... but as a whole heck no.... we haven't even put a toe in it yet.... even Kinect 2 is a baby step.... now will it work??? maybe, maybe not.... doesn't really matter, some gamers will pass, others will jump, new people will get in for non gaming reasons and things gonna evolve during the next 5 to 10 years and then kinect3 will come in and we will get closer to something great and usable for many application.... maybe even feedback skin suites VR glasses and all to complete it....

I'd be pretty annoyed if I didn't have Kinect now that I use and it will be improved.... it'd be like stoping making super cars because you can't use them a top speed.... so it's a gimmick it's useless most people don't drive over the speed limit.... so you shouldn't make them... well you don't want to use it, fine, I do... no matter what you guys think of it.... and I want it packed in because even if 2% more dev use that's that much more potential use I'll have for it....

call it fanboyism.... I call it taste... I dig that gimmick like crack whores dig crack... you don't like it go with the competition but stop trying to put everybody in the same box and force them to be like you guys especially when you have alternatives.... let us be outcasts if we want to....

P.S.
btw just saw on TV B2B companies working on business system using PC Kinect for office application... for the one also saying it happening in office set up.... well apparently some companies are looking seriously into it...

I don't find it surprising that 99% of the people complaining about having to keep the Kinect plugged in are Sony fans. If it was such a big issue it would be all over media sites and not just certain gamer forums.

If It all boils down to that last little part and not all the stupid paranoia, why not ask Microsoft instead of forum goers :) seems all forum goers want to talk about is the paranoia crap.

I don't think you and a lot of Xbox One enthusiasts understood the question of the OP. It's not a point of "I'm afraid MS is Skynet and the always-on Kinect is the beginning of the machine revolution". The point here is why the hell is Microsoft making Kinect mandatory in the first place. And for God's sake, STOP this "only Sony fans are complaining", it's CLEARLY not true. There is a considerable amount of people complaining about this. Paranoia maybe? Sure, but the point is: some people might not buy the system because Kinect needs to be always connected. Why didn't Microsoft just took the simple decision of bundling Kinect but not making it mandatory for the system to work at all?

And it's not just the privacy issues/paranoia. What if Kinect breaks? I need to spend another couple hundreds of dollars on a new one just to make my console work, even if I don't use Kinect at all?

Arnie J gets part of it.

These people dont.

If people will insist on posting pointless stuff, Ill tell them not to post. If they want to actually participate with something useful, by all means start saying useful things.

Cameras on PC's have nothing to do with the thread. Cameras on phones have nothing to do with the thread. People bringing them up are using good old fashioned deflection. Nothing more, nothing less.

I dont want a camera and a microphone recording me while Im playing videogames or watching movies. I want to know why I cant use the console if Kinect breaks. I want to know why if I can turn the camera "off", why I cant unplug it? 

You guys are avoiding the question and jumping straight on the defensive with deflection techniques. Its extremely annoying.

Why does Kinect have to be plugged in?

Only tres has come up with something really substantial thus far.

I suck it up and use it. Yes. Im not arguing against that. Sometime later down the road, I will do the same with the One.

What Im arguing is, we should have clarification why it has to be plugged in at all times. I want to know why it is required. You people dont have answers. You have nothing worthwhile to add other than "You use other devices!".

I dont give a shit about other devices. This thread isnt about other devices. This thread is about the Xbox One and Kinect. Its about why Kinect simply has to be plugged in at all times. If people cant answer it and instead jump straight to deflection, I think it actually shows their own insecurities.

The sheer fact that the interface can be controlled using the pad automatically stomps your point there. If the dashboard can be navigated with a pad, there is no reason why Kinect has to be plugged in. If the dashboard required Kinect, then I could understand it.

I dont find it surprising that a guy with a Halo avatar is complaining about Sony fans. Come on. Try to be original. Try to actually say something worthwhile.

Microsoft PR over the last few Months has arguably been the worst PR this industry has ever seen. I wouldnt believe an answer I got from them, unless it was in a press release.

This is a forum where discussion is supposed to be had. It seems like a good place to ask the question after we have had people recently complaining about Kinect being bundled.
_____

Of course there are privacy concerns, but its not the only concern.

Then I guess this thread is pointless and can be closed since nobody has the correct answer here. If you only want the answer and nothing else posted then you are out of luck.

This thread is pointless. The OP is just completely ignoring all the replies until we actually approve what he is saying without thinking or debating. (actually asking almost everybody to do not reply/post...)

Talking about other devices with a camera plugged in and only turned off instead of having to disconnect them every time you are not using is "not at all related to the thread" even if it is exactly what seem to be "the" big issue here... oh well...