Wi-Fi Access Put To Test At SBC Park?

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/8419409.htm' target='_blank'>http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/merc...ews/8419409.htm</a><br /><br /></div>Are you a San Francisco Giants fan? If so, SBC Park is now offering FREE wireless access in the stadium. There's one danger of using it, though:<br /><br />"Free wireless got its real-season test Monday, as the Giants played the Milwaukee Brewers. While Lin loved it, Kevin Fong just shook his head -- at his bad timing. Fong, a computer programmer from South San Francisco, had taken his laptop into the glass-enclosed Club level and was checking work e-mail when Barry Bonds smashed home run No. 660 to tie Willie Mays' record. The park went wild. 'I watched it on TV,' said Fong, still shaking his head. The moral, Kevin? 'Don't take your laptop to the park.'"<br /><br />Baseball is a relatively slow-paced game, but I couldn't imagine bringing a <b>laptop</b> to one. Especially to Yankee Stadium, where bags are pretty much prohibited nowadays. I could see a Pocket PC being useful between innings, though, to look up things like the ultimate <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com">baseball reference site</a>.

[Mark Kenepp]

I received my Socket Communications CF Wireless LAN Card (http://www.socketcom.com/product/WL6004-322.asp) on the day of my first trip to Pac Bell (SBC) this season. It was the first preseason game at the park this year.

I really didn't spend much time online while at the park but I did want to see if I could connect and see what services they offered in the 'Digital Dugout."

Maybe because it was a preseason game, there didn't seem to be much content that made it worth connecting to. When I was trying to look at stats and roster information for this seasons team, the digital dugout only took me to the MLB Web site. I can do that from home :bad-words:

I wonder if there are any things different during the regular season.

I for one would like to see things like an electronic version of the program, up to date stats on what is going on in the game like pitch counts, batting statistics, official scorer records.

I used to take my Jornada 568 and score the game using Rakonza K-ForCE (http://rakonza.com/K-ForCE_v2/) but I haven't installed it on my new iPaq 2215 yet.

[Don Sorcinelli]

Baseball is a relatively slow-paced game, but I couldn't imagine bringing a laptop to one. Especially to Yankee Stadium, where bags are pretty much prohibited nowadays. I could see a Pocket PC being useful between innings, though, to look up things like the ultimate baseball reference site (http://www.baseball-reference.com).
The way the Yankees have been hitting to start the season, Janak, I figure you could read an eBook and not miss much. 8O

I'm sorry... I get so few "Yankee-bashing" opportunities and the setup was just TOO good... :D

DonS
"Go Sox"

[Rickyohead]

Baseball is a relatively slow-paced game, but I couldn't imagine bringing a laptop to one.

I find baseball incredibly boring to watch. There's a 15 second break every 10 seconds.... :roll:

however, if I actually went to the game, I wouldn't bring a ppc or laptop. i don't know.

[Janak Parekh]

I find baseball incredibly boring to watch. There's a 15 second break every 10 seconds.... :roll:
It is indeed slow-paced, and some pitchers are worse than others, but the fun is in guessing what's going to happen during the interludes. Baseball is not only a sport, it's kind of like a chessgame -- are the hitters going to run, which pitch is the pitcher going to throw, is the batter going to swing -- all of that varies depending on the state of the game. Understanding the rules makes a big difference. At least, in my opinion. ;) Having an AM radio handy, listening to the commentators, also helps... the TV commentators are sometimes lacking.

I'm sorry... I get so few "Yankee-bashing" opportunities and the setup was just TOO good...
Well, go ahead and enjoy that .5 game lead the Red Sox have while it lasts... ;)

--janak

[Zack Mahdavi]

I don't know... I personally think WiFi should eventually become as ubiquitous as radio and TV signals. Sure, you might not use WiFi where it's offered, but it's always a good feeling to know that WiFi's there if you need it.

[bbarker]

I find baseball boring enough that I'd probably browse my PPC at a game. But I'd rather have WiFi at the mall when I'm waiting for my wife to shop.

[jizmo]

I would personally bat every laptop brought to a sporting event like this. Not really - but almost..

Sheesh, there's time and place for everything. Unless you're collecting some sort of information for the studies about the game, surfing the net while watching the game sounds a bit goofy to me.

Leave that laptop home, enjoy the outdoors and sunshine like it was meant to be. :beer:

/jizmo

[sixsixty]

it sucked.

i took my ppc. turned it on. the wifi connected very easily and saw a bunch of connections. opened my browser, went to a random webpage and up pops up the SBC splash page. no problem. i click to enter and go straight to the License page. no problem. i click accept......and it hangs. forever.

i tried it at a few different places in the park. same thing. if anyone wants to know i was in the bleachers. so my review so far is it stinks. maybe i did something wrong? i dont know. but everything seemed to be going smoothly, i just couldnt get past the EULA page.