Baseball = Sacred
As technology encroaches more and more on our daily lives, there is going to be a growing audience that does not completely embrace the presence of the Internet and its accessories. Recently, I came across the "Baseball + Wifi" entry at StopDesign which was talking about the recent installation of Wi-Fi at the SBC Park in San Francisco.
As the entry notes, there are quite a few "purists" that very offended that others would consider using laptops during a game. Here's a sample:
Now one can watch the Giants, pull up any kind of stats, replay video, and apparently, even pretend to be working. Some fans are understandably upset. They don’t like the idea of ruining the sport with additional technology brought into the park. When I first saw the news about the wifi, my first reaction was “Why would you ever want to lug a laptop with you to a game?” Wouldn’t it kind of ruin the spontaneity of jumping up to cheer when Bonds cracks his homers into McCovey Cove?
However, I can also see the brilliance in the idea, despite the fact that I’d feel iffy about using it. I mean, baseball isn’t exactly the most non-stop action-packed sport we’ve invented. There are tons of lulls in the game, which make it a great social spectator sport: it’s great for conversation with friends and colleagues. Those lulls would make good opportunities to jump online to check email, or prove your point on who held the record for the most stolen bases in ‘97 (if you’re into that kind of thing). Baseball is one of the only sports I can think of that attracts so many stats-freaks. To them, I can see wifi access is a dream come true.
The commentary is also particularly interesting and worth a read.