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SBC Park Plans A Giant 802.11 Hotspot
Numeric writes "Baseball games won't be as boring at SBC Park, home of the San Fransico Giants, because they are offering "one of the largest hotspots", according to this Yahoo article.
SBC Communications provides DSL and wireless connectivity to business and consumers. I wonder if Minute Maid Park will offer free orange juice or even better Citizen Ball Park could offer free money! Its nice to see the staduim sponsor offering more than just the name sake of their business."
LostCluster writes "The San Jose Business Journal adds the details that the WiFi access will be called SBC's Freedom Link, and and be based on 121 access points spread across the park. Access will be free during the 2004 season, but will cost $7.95 per day or $19.95 per month starting next year."
Scoreboard?
Nah, that's just numbers about the current game. "Stats" are things like "earned run average", batting averages for (season/lifetime/since became sober), number of team wins under artificial light at home stadium vs. wins on away games when the pitcher forgot his lucky rabbit's foot, etc. You see, baseball has fairly long stretches where you are waiting for something to happen, so fans have to have something to keep them occupied. That's where stats come in.
If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
Well, if you RTFA you would see that they are offering services with the WiFi, such as live stats, replays, electronic scorecards ...
This isn't about letting people browse around or chat on irc when they get bored of the game, it's giving the fans something more than one of those game book thingies, which typically cost around as much as what they will be charging for WiFi next year.