Past Predictions on the Future of Sports and Technology
May 17, 2011 2:09 PM Subscribe
In 1995, experts predicted what watching sports would be like in the future. One prediction: "...a Seattle Times reporter imagined a day in the not-too-distant future when a fan who got home late during a Seattle SuperSonic game could digitally fast-forward through the recorded action until he caught up with the real-time telecast."
Shows what they knew...there are no Seattle supersonics in the future.
posted by milestogo at 2:12 PM on May 17, 2011 [25 favorites]
posted by milestogo at 2:12 PM on May 17, 2011 [25 favorites]
From any keyboard inside his home, Allen can also access computers strewn throughout the vast web of his futuristic business empire.
The first page of that reads exactly like the non-parody version of this Onion article.
posted by theodolite at 2:13 PM on May 17, 2011 [2 favorites]
The first page of that reads exactly like the non-parody version of this Onion article.
posted by theodolite at 2:13 PM on May 17, 2011 [2 favorites]
You couldn't watch what had previously been recorded on a videotape while it was still recording the broadcast in progress.
Doh! Quite true.
Well, in the future maybe you can!
posted by ian1977 at 2:19 PM on May 17, 2011
Doh! Quite true.
Well, in the future maybe you can!
posted by ian1977 at 2:19 PM on May 17, 2011
NASCAR WITH FLYING CARS.
Also, Zombie Richard Petty wins 2065 Daytona 500.
posted by Nanukthedog at 2:24 PM on May 17, 2011
Also, Zombie Richard Petty wins 2065 Daytona 500.
posted by Nanukthedog at 2:24 PM on May 17, 2011
Following the incredible popularity of the World Cup in 1994, soccer quickly becomes most popular sport in the United States. The US National Team currently leads the FIFA rankings, and the Citibank American Premier League now presents the highest level of professional play, and is watched by millions around the world.
In England, ice hockey has taken on the mantle of national sport, although games are frequently marred by fan violence.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 2:49 PM on May 17, 2011 [3 favorites]
In England, ice hockey has taken on the mantle of national sport, although games are frequently marred by fan violence.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 2:49 PM on May 17, 2011 [3 favorites]
a Seattle Times reporter imagined a day in the not-too-distant future when a fan who got home late during a Seattle SuperSonic game...
Yeah, imagine if I reached back through time and informed that Seattle Times reporter that his favorite team moved to Oklahoma City. And seemed headed for the championship just a few years later.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:50 PM on May 17, 2011
Yeah, imagine if I reached back through time and informed that Seattle Times reporter that his favorite team moved to Oklahoma City. And seemed headed for the championship just a few years later.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:50 PM on May 17, 2011
Red Bull Air Races?
I want to see the Red Bull Air Races in Portland, OR with the bridges moving up and down, just to make it interesting.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 2:52 PM on May 17, 2011
I want to see the Red Bull Air Races in Portland, OR with the bridges moving up and down, just to make it interesting.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 2:52 PM on May 17, 2011
There was one SI article about sports broadcasts in the future that theorized that you could offset the cost of a pay-per-view event by watching mega-sized advertisements prior to the event. The article jokingly called them "Big Bad Ads."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:53 PM on May 17, 2011
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:53 PM on May 17, 2011
I want to see the Red Bull Air Races with model airplanes and RC controllers, and if you crash, you get an electric shock.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:54 PM on May 17, 2011
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:54 PM on May 17, 2011
I want to see the Red Bull Air Races with multiple eagles flying at the same time carrying Fez wearing monkeys shooting laser beams at one another.
posted by zeoslap at 3:44 PM on May 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by zeoslap at 3:44 PM on May 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
Immediately following that prescient Tivo-like comment:
After a Shawn Kemp dunk, the reporter presumed, the viewer could click on the image of Kemp and call up his latest stats
This is the first non-creepy use I can think of for that facial recognition technology that crawls through photos tagging everyone it can identify. Why can't I click on a basketball player, in the middle of a TV broadcast, to bring up a page of his/her stats and current news updates? That would be sweet! It would be even easier to implement, too, since there is a relatively constrained universe of pro sports athletes, and they tend to have even more prominent identifying characteristics like huge numbers on their backs.
posted by rkent at 4:05 PM on May 17, 2011
After a Shawn Kemp dunk, the reporter presumed, the viewer could click on the image of Kemp and call up his latest stats
This is the first non-creepy use I can think of for that facial recognition technology that crawls through photos tagging everyone it can identify. Why can't I click on a basketball player, in the middle of a TV broadcast, to bring up a page of his/her stats and current news updates? That would be sweet! It would be even easier to implement, too, since there is a relatively constrained universe of pro sports athletes, and they tend to have even more prominent identifying characteristics like huge numbers on their backs.
posted by rkent at 4:05 PM on May 17, 2011
And seemed headed for the championship just a few years later.
As a Mavs fan, I gotta say, tap the breaks... The Thunder are no joke, but sweeping the Lakers counts for nothing? Unless you're speaking about a slightly longer time frame, in which case I agree.
posted by erikgrande at 6:02 PM on May 17, 2011
As a Mavs fan, I gotta say, tap the breaks... The Thunder are no joke, but sweeping the Lakers counts for nothing? Unless you're speaking about a slightly longer time frame, in which case I agree.
posted by erikgrande at 6:02 PM on May 17, 2011
Basketball players move really fast and mousing over them while they run and jump and whatnot would just feel a little too much like a first-person shooter
Hang on a minute, I think you're on the verge of taking a ho-hum idea and making it awesome.
posted by straight at 6:46 PM on May 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
Hang on a minute, I think you're on the verge of taking a ho-hum idea and making it awesome.
posted by straight at 6:46 PM on May 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
You couldn't watch what had previously been recorded on a videotape while it was still recording the broadcast in progress.
2 televisions fixes that. Tune one to the current broadcast, and backtrack the VCR on the other. Hell, we were doing this in the 80s.
"in the not-too-distant future" - Not much of a prediction since the Tivo's first public trials were in 1998. Anyone who had attended a tech convention in '95 had certainly seen prototypes.
posted by Ardiril at 6:50 PM on May 17, 2011
2 televisions fixes that. Tune one to the current broadcast, and backtrack the VCR on the other. Hell, we were doing this in the 80s.
"in the not-too-distant future" - Not much of a prediction since the Tivo's first public trials were in 1998. Anyone who had attended a tech convention in '95 had certainly seen prototypes.
posted by Ardiril at 6:50 PM on May 17, 2011
You couldn't watch what had previously been recorded on a videotape while it was still recording the broadcast in progress.
Well, strictly speaking, if you had a ridiculously huge tape delay machine, and didn't care about being able to rewind or fast-forward, you could have done this.
posted by schmod at 8:24 PM on May 17, 2011
Well, strictly speaking, if you had a ridiculously huge tape delay machine, and didn't care about being able to rewind or fast-forward, you could have done this.
posted by schmod at 8:24 PM on May 17, 2011
I may be growing senile in my old, old age, but I seem to recall that watching a fast-forwarded VCR recording of a television broadcast meant looking at a couple of strips of blurred, stretched motion near the top and bottom third of the screen, interspersed with static and tearing. I remember my excitement in the mid-90s at getting a VCR with some huge number of heads that would let me pause the tape and be able to see something approaching a still image.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 8:46 PM on May 17, 2011
posted by obiwanwasabi at 8:46 PM on May 17, 2011
Fuck you, David Stern.
posted by The Hamms Bear at 9:32 PM on May 17, 2011
posted by The Hamms Bear at 9:32 PM on May 17, 2011
1995??? Not such a bold prediction. Real-time digital storage and simultaneous record/playback already existed in 1995. Broadcasters used similar digital devices for slow-motion replays.
It just didn't exist in a home version yet, mainly due to cost and the lack of a digital transmission infrastructure.
posted by rocket88 at 7:40 AM on May 18, 2011
It just didn't exist in a home version yet, mainly due to cost and the lack of a digital transmission infrastructure.
posted by rocket88 at 7:40 AM on May 18, 2011
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posted by ian1977 at 2:11 PM on May 17, 2011 [1 favorite]