The Ballpark Stadium of the Future

thejrwr writes to mention a CNN article about the ballpark stadium of the future. The new Cisco stadium for the Oakland A's will be a paragon of the company's technologies, with cellphones carrying personal data used for advertising and identification purposes. "Cisco, which makes the routers, switches and other devices used to link networks and direct traffic on the Internet, is trying to shed its image as solely a maker of networking infrastructure gear. The company also hopes to capitalize on products and services that utilize the network. One example is TelePresence, a technology similar to video conferencing that Cisco introduced last month that aims to deliver a three-dimensional feeling that the participants are all in the same room."

Comments

Good for Cisco

[robinesque]

But it seems like the users of the ball park are going to need a lot of specialized gear to fully utilize the park... Will it degrade gracefully?

Re:Technology advances...

[Kangburra]

People really still drag themselves to a stadium through all that traffic when HDTV exists?

Yes, social interaction, atmosphere, making friends etc.

It's not just about the game, there's more to it than that.

Tickets

[cnorrisjr]

if your ticket was on your cellphone, you would never lose your ticket. BUT. if your cellphone is stolen, there goes your game, if not the whole series. And what if you wanted to sell your tickets or give them to a friend. would my friend have to take my cell phone?

Re:Technology advances...

[uvajed_ekil]

Ad technology that is. The best part is you cannot leave the stadium until you buy at least $100 worth of advertised product, but you get to do it with your cellphone! Yay, how cool! Go Cisco! People really still drag themselves to a stadium through all that traffic when HDTV exists?

Last time I checked, HDTV in my living room can't duplicate the amazing feeling of a ballpark. I say screw the over-commercialization of baseball, but I still love going to a ballgame (sometimes alone, so I can really watch the game, and I even keep scor once in a while, though I don't go home to my my mom's basement afterward, sorry), and having history happen right in front of me. If you're actually at the game, you can avoid looking at ads by watching the game!

If I had to choose between either baseball or the internet being allowed to survive a nuclear cage match, I'd have a hard time deciding. Besides, even though HDTV is becoming common, I still don't have an ABHCD (Authentic Ballpark Hotdog Cooker and Dispenser).

Re:Waste of taxpayer money

[Aqua OS X]

Well, you can argue that a new stadium is an investment in the city. It can revitalize an area of town and attract new business.

Case in point, PacBell/SBC/AT&T Park has been a contributing factor to completely revamping the Embarcadero in San Francisco. That said, although SF contributed a few million dollars in tax abatements, the stadium has been privately funded.

Re:Waste of taxpayer money

[britneys 9th husband]

Agreed, and this is just the tip of the iceberg of government waste. If we took all of the money being spent on the war in Iraq and redirected it towards building baseball stadiums, we could build a new ballpark (at a cost of $250 million) EVERY SINGLE DAY. Or if we built nicer $500 million ballparks we could put one up every other day. Imagine, your kid could play little league in a real 50,000 seat baseball stadium when he's 11 instead of being blown up by some militant in some godforsaken desert when he's 20.

Re:Waste of taxpayer money

[legallyillegal]

One of those buildings is perhaps used 14 days out of the year. The Seahawks aren't the only tenants.

Re:Technology advances...

[MojoStan]

People really still drag themselves to a stadium through all that traffic when HDTV exists?

People really still go through the "hassles" of getting laid when HDTV POV porn exists? (Should I post this comment anonymously?)

I'd guesstimate that over 90 percent of HDTV telecasts show the game from the center field camera. Most of the time, you see nothing but the pitcher, catcher, batter, and home plate umpire from a behind-the-pitcher point of view (no porn joke intended). When the ball is hit, the camera follows the ball. Sure, those are usually the most important things happening at the moment, but a lot more is going on off-camera. Also, the limited view of any camera shot does not give a good perspective of the amazing speeds, distances, and skills displayed in a big league ballgame.

Some of the things you miss when watching a game on HDTV instead of at the ballpark:

• A perspective of just how shallow Mark Kotsay (Oakland Athletics) positions himself in center field (to prevent bloop singles) and how skillful he is when running down a drive hit over his head (he actually takes his eyes off the ball and finds it again before the ball comes down).
• A perspective of just how tall and intimidating Randy Johnson is (6'10", 95-100MPH) on the pitcher's mound (10" high, 60'6" away from home plate).
• The beauty, coordination, rhythm, and skill of both middle infielders working together on a 6-4-3 double play (the tv camera follows the ball and shows one player briefly at a time).
• The off-camera action when a hit-and-run is being attempted: runner(s) going as the ball is being pitched, a middle infielder (which one depends on the batter and the pitch) covering second base, a weakly-hit ball going through the infield area vacated by the infielder covering the stolen base attempt.
• The sound and mood of an entire impatient New York ballpark when Alex Rodriguez ($25 million salary) boots yet another ground ball at Yankee Stadium.
• An HDTV center field camera does not do justice to the sight (and sometimes sound) of a 100MPH Rich Harden (Oakland A's) fastball and a swing that's quick and accurate enough to hit it. At the ballpark, that pitch looks impossibly fast. A swing that can hit it looks like an optical illusion.

I guess you have to be a baseball nerd to appreciate some of these things. I also notice a lot of "business-related entertainment" attendies at AT&T Park (S.F. Giants) that seem to ignore about 90 percent of the game. They enjoy being there for other reasons I can't relate to (not that there's anything wrong with that). MLB in the Silicon Valley should attract a good mix of baseball nerds and "suits" trying to impress business clients.