As communications and information access emphasize “real time”, seconds matter.
Last football season I was watching the Texas Longhorns in HD on Time Warner Cable. I was talking on the phone with my brother, who was also watching the game on Time Warner Cable, but not in HD. He kept cheering and jeering plays a full 5 to 10 seconds before I saw them. That’s because HD takes longer to be delivered a decoded by the set top, so it’s delayed compared to standard TV.
The same thing happens on the internet. As we move to a so-called “real time web”, seconds matter.
I was reminded of this thanks to my obsessions with watching the Cardinals on MLB.tv. I subscribe to the premium package, which allows me to watch games live on my computer and also get full access to the MLB “GameDay”, which is basically a pitch-by-pitch graphical representation of the game.
The GameDay updates are in near-real time, whereas the video feed is delayed about 20 seconds or so. I usually have both the GameDay and video window open at the same time, so my wandering eyes tell me what’s going to happen before the video actually shows it to me. Sure, I could just close the GameDay window, but it’s tempting to find out what happens before it actually does.
And even if I closed GameDay and only watched the video feed, there would be other real time distractions. While watching a game a couple weeks ago, I noticed a button on the video feed that read “Twitter”. I clicked on it, and up popped a Twitter feed of people watching the game.
“That was predictable, home run Albert Pujols” read the feed. I was watching the video feed, and Pujols had just stepped up to the plate. I just ruined the fun again.
Between GameDay, Twitter, and MLB.tv, I was watching things unfold in real time, it’s just that everything was off by ten seconds. In a real time web, seconds matter.
I’ve found a solution to my temptations to check GameDay and Twitter when watching the Cards on MLB.tv. You can now watch games directly on TV using a Roku box. While watching on the TV I don’t have access to GameDay and Twitter at the click of a button. There are no spoilers.
Unless I’m on the phone with my brother.
Johnny says
You should have made a few play-by-play bets with him….win two, lose one, win four, lose one, etc… to string him along. 🙂
DR.DOMAIN says
Wonder if such a phenomenon might give one trader an edge over another?
Andrew Allemann says
Dr. Domain – interesting point. I suspect you could use software programs to take advantage of it. Maybe in real time sports betting?
Dan says
How is a texas boy a cards fan… band wagon??? Shouldn’t you be a astros or rangers fan
Andrew Allemann says
Dan – grew up in St. Louis 🙂