Take Me Out to the Ballgame
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Take Me Out to the BallgameI saw this article on technology in baseball, specifically how the Tri-City Dust Devils, a Colorado Rockies affiliate, is using technology in their game. It's mostly statistics that are plugged in and used to evaluate players in determing whether they will move up in the minor leagues or even get to the major leagues.
But there was one interesting thing that caught my eye. They'd enabled wireless access for the stadium. They weren't sure why someone would bring a laptop to a ballgame, but it didn't cost much, so they set it up. I thought I'd like that, especially for day games because I could be sitting out there enjoying a ball game while writing some of these editorials 🙂
Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, disagrees, however, and hasn't enabled access inside the basketball arena because he wants people to watch the game. I guess that makes sense, but it got me thinking of a Friday poll:
How wired do you want to be in life?
I've always avoided work cell phones and pagers when possible because I don't want to be wired too much. There was a time when one of my jobs was looking for people to pilot Blackberry's and I walked away because I didn't want to be that wired. I think I work flexible enough hours and put in time when needed, but I also need downtime.
I wrote last week about retirement and regrets and ended up staying up late after a softball game talking about things like that with friends. One of the things that occured to me that night was that my retirement shouldn't be a huge change for me. I can't work 50 or 60 hours a week and then just stop and play golf, read, or whatever. Retirement should be a change where I work less or maybe differently, volunteering, watching the grandkids, or something else, but it needs to be a similar schedule to what I've done for a long time.
Which means I need to ensure I have enough leisure time now to enjoy life. I like being wired, getting email every day, checking the web, etc., but I also think I should be unwired for quite a few hours every day.
Steve Jones
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I'm a father of 4 wondefull kids over here in the atlantic ocean on a small island called Faroe Islands
These days I work only 15-20 hour pr week, because I use a lot of my time with my kids, going to the park, taking them out to fish or just being home while the are out side and playing. All in all I think that this is the most important time in my kids life. A unforgettable time and also the time where they get molded. I time that they will remember as childhood.
My house is wireless, and that is the end of wireless coverage here in our country!
I have been 3 times in the US, Scandinavia and the UK and I must say that wireless coverage is very plesant part of life.
I'm sure that people will watch the game and even be a part of of life even if there is wireless access, GPRS, EDGE, WiMAX in the air.
The real problem is how people handle it, do we talk to each other or is it more important to check your cellphone for sms's than it is to talk to the person next to you?
FaroeIsland
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IMHO, there are things which might be always as they are. Personally, I hate mobile phones but I recognize that when you have kids are very useful. I’m totally available for any emergency of paramount importance, no little things.
My last work had as a dutie answer emails by means a fuc.. BlackBerry. At first, it was amusing and all that kind of stuff when you have a gadget as that but.. finally, day in day out is the never ending history. Fortunately I avoided a laptop… Now, neither of them and I feel happy.
We are moving a new house and my wife and me are struggling because I don’t want a fixed phole line in our upcoming home. I’d prefer have a 3G connection on my laptop so that we would have a payment less. Here in Spain you have to pay a minimum amount ever two months in order to maintain that line.
Is it necessary for us when we’ve got prepayment mobile phones? No.
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While I find my work to be very interesting... And I wouldn't have nearly as much fun just being retired; I value my time away from the job. Currently I do my development on virtual PC's and can take my work with me wherever I go. But, I purposely do not work when away from the office unless I have a crisis.
The down time is important for me to maintain the creative edge I need to come up with better solutions to the problems I face each day. When I try too hard, I produce less. When I live a more balanced life, my employer actually gets more from me
Oh... And I have wireless at home, but almost never use it. If I must work, or research a hobby, or check email I go into my home office where computer stuff should be done!
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I can't be wired enough ...on the output, that is ...I like access to any kind and as much information at my finger tips. Though, just because I would like to be that wired, doesn't mean I would be using it like a junky ...I just like it available. As far as the input stage goes, as long as I have the choice to not answer the phone, mobile, IM, e-mail, etc, I'll survive alright ...I would fear a place and time where people could get at you that easily and you wouldn't have the ability to ignore them.
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If you quit "working", you stop living. If you're not living, you end up dying. My father just retired two years ago. He is as busy now as he was when he was working. The difference is that he is doing what he *wants* to do.
A comment about wireless at sporting events. I agree that wireless at a basketball game doesn't make a lot of sense. However, baseball is played at a different pace. It's not uncommon to see people reading a newspaper during a baseball game. People chat with each other more during a baseball game. Adding WiFi makes more sense, especially as a way to attract more fans at the minor league level.
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Being wired is not the problem, being obligated to work all the time is the problem. If your employer is ok with you using personal IM/chat at work, then you should expect some work in your personal life. I don't see ubiquitous WiFi being any better or worse for us than cell phone coverage.
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I am very very wired. I have two cell phones (one that my employer provided me, one my personal), one of which is a smart phone (T-Mobile MDA with the wireless access through them). I have access to my outlook email whenever I need it, or more accurately whenever it needs me.
I have two laptops, both with WiFI built in, two computer at home besides that and a dell axim. I am almost never off-line (only if I am in an area where there is no GSM towers with Edge/GPRS connection). If I were to go to a ball-game, or whatever (I don't do sports but eh) I probably would have my smartphone right at my side. Its nice for multiple reasons, not the least of which is the ability to google facts about the game, gather information about your personal life/finances etc. Just this morning, on the way to work, I was logged into my bank to make sure that some financial transactions that were pending went through.
I will disconnect though when appropriate. If I go to church, the phone stays in the car (both of them). If I am at a movie, the phone is turned to silent, and I check if I get bored. If I am at a dance club, I usually leave the phone in the car as well (there is no reason to have it in the club, I won't be able to answer it anyways). Most of the actual phone calls I get are from family, and I don't mind that one bit. I live in Florida, they all live back in Michigan, so I don't get to see them. Hearing them on the phone is as close as I get to being with them, so when they feel to talk I certainly want to get the call.
In any event, if I want access I get access. Whether it be WiFi/GPRS/Edge whatever. Trust me, whether or not they provide it at the stadium is kinda a moot point.
Aleksei
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As with those above I want to be wired for personal life but to be able to choose when I use it. I'm lucky in that although my mobile number is recorded at work it would only be called in a serious emergency and I'd be willing to respond. It hasn't occurred yet.
With all the hype about hot spots is there a national/ international list of them for potential users?
Having been camping and sailing for a week I missed being connected for email (sending sailing report and pictures). Contact depends on being in an area with mobile reception or wired and there aren't so many of those when you're out on a boat!
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I used to be wired all the time but as i approach 30 i am see a big changes.I take vacations and never do any checking of anything.i give 100% when i am at work but once i step out i am done.except for the weekend upgrades and changes .
I started a new hobby motorcycle touring ,camping and photography.Wireless is awesome as i can upload pictures to my family,update my travel blog and usually email friends as to when i am passing through their state .
I never worked on anything mechanically but now i am building old dirt bikes and giving them as gifts to the kids in the family.I am amazed that rebuilting a engine can be so relaxing after programming for 5 days.
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I'm probably one of the most technologically challenged IT professionals out there.
For example, I own a $20/month cellphone that I keep in my car in case I run out of gas and need to call AAA (for the record, never happened). I haven't given the number to anybody (in fact, I don't know it myself), and it's never turned on. The phone itself is a 90's model and could also be used as a blunt object if needed for self-defense.
I don't own a Blackberry or a laptop. I use a desktop at work and my wife and I share the 5-year old desktop at home (I never work from home).
In addition, I purchased the most basic cable available with local stations only (no ESPN, CNN or HGTV), and I still get my news from the evening news and the local paper. My DVD player at home has been broken for months, and I haven't gotten around to replacing it.
When my wife and I were first married, she couldn't believe that if we were in the middle of dinner or had company over, that I would let the machine get the phone. She thought that not answering the phone was sacrilege. I've slowly been able to convince her that the person in the room has priority over the person calling (although I do believe we're obligated to return calls in a timely manner).
Of course, I'm competent and prolific with e-mail, but I usually opt to talk with the person when possible.
In short, my electronic lifestyle is probably not too far removed from Ward Cleaver's. I work hard at the office, and forget about it when I'm not there. When I'm with others, I like to give them my undivided attention. And one of my favorite things about going to a ball game is conversing with and enjoying the people I'm with.
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As a couple of others have pointed out, the question of being wired depends on how much people (both at work and in your personal life) respect when you are on vacation or otherwise unavailable, even if you are technically "reachable."
It's sort of like the etiquette of not knocking on someone's door at midnight just because you know they are home. Anyone who would allow this kind of intrusion without objecting would probably be considered to deserve it. As I have heard said, behavior rewarded is behavior repeated.
The work issue may be slightly more complicated depending on your job. It may be necessary to reach you in an emergency (not only in IT but also with doctors, lawyers, etc.). But, assuming that the level of notification has been agreed to be that emergency level -- and hopefully you and the employer have a common understanding of what constitutes an emergency -- then people should stick to that policy. In short, workers with that understanding should be allowed to disregard non-emergency contact without being criticized for not being "reachable."
I'm not sure how much that works in practice, but I think it is a reasonable goal. Especially because I think it can be helpful to be wired even when on vacation (and especially I bet during retirement). So many things can help you -- cell phones, online maps and directories, even ordering stuff if needed -- if you have an internet connection that travels with you. But my ideal scenario is a broadband wireless connection that is secure and doesn't require my tapping into a hot spot. Those are expensive now, but I think it is the wave of the future and hopefully will become more affordable. Essentially, anywhere that you can get cell phone service, you should be able to connect at high speed to the internet, ideally as part of a phone service package. A man can dream.
Finally, regarding the baseball wireless story, I have one question. As I understand it, security in U.S. major league stadiums is much tighter after 9/11. So I wonder whether baseball parks even allow laptops into the stadiums. I know they allow cell phones, but cell phones don't need wireless hot spots to work, they need only cellular coverage. If no one can bring a laptop into a stadium, then there's no point in offering wireless. But perhaps I'm wrong and you can bring laptops to stadiums.
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A SQL query walks into a bar and sees two tables. He walks up to them and asks, "Can I join you?"
Ref.: http://tkyte.blogspot.com/2009/02/sql-joke.html -
I used to work at a company where we had SQL jobs running all through the night and weekends, usually staging product and price updates to the web site. The nightly schedule was extremely tight - a 30 minute delay could result in the site not being up the next morning. There were 3 of us taking turns doing production standby, one week on and 2 weeks off. There used to be just one guy doing standby - 24X7 for several years. Doing production standby is a pet hate of mind because you never really have downtime. But being 100% wired with a smartphone makes it SO much easier when you are on standby. Imagine missing that all-important baseball game because a critical job failed? Or having to leave a party and drive home with your partner in tow?
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It seems that some people assume that being wired means being connected to work. For some, being wired is part of their leisure. I personally enjoy what I do, and if I was independently wealthy, I might be doing the same thing, possibly for free. Also, as far as connection in the stadium goes, I have a friend that would love that. He'd be following at least 2-3 other games online, and looking at a bunch of statistics. For him, that would be part of the enjoyment.
James C Loesch -
I enjoy production work, but definitely you need some help. Can't do it all alone, at least not for long.
I'm not sure if you can bring in a laptop. They are strict about how big bags are, but I'd think you could bring a laptop in. There are still lots of PDAs, like iPaqs, that have wifi and a number of call phones now have them. I looked at the Cingular 8125, which has WiFi recently.
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