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Right. What he's describing is just like team rowing, or tug-o-war or a sport like american football, rugby, basketball, etc. We've had this technology for th

by feral 16y ago

Right. What he's describing is just like team rowing, or tug-o-war or a sport like american football, rugby, basketball, etc. We've had this technology for thousands of years.

Kuiper 16y ago
What Scott Adams is proposing is a system that would allow individuals to compete in team rowing or tug-o-war competitions with individuals from other cities/countries/continents via the internet, which would be new technology. It's sort of like the transition from local multiplayer on a game console to online play. Home multiplayer video games have been around since the 80's, but it's not until recently that they've made their way online. The internet is a great tool because it ensures that you never suffer from a lack of available teammates/competitors. In the olden days, your ability to partipate was dependant on those around you having the same interest. Scott suggests setting up gyms for this kind of thing, but the beauty is that with the proper equipment, anyone would be able to compete from home. This could be a boon for people living in more remote/rural areas who want to compete in team athletic events. Plus, there's all kinds of other neat things that you can have the tech do with regards to scoring, like having a system to scale/normalize scores so that a team of 10 adults can compete against a team of 10 children and come out with roughly a 50/50 win ratio.
acgourley 16y ago
This observation is correct; exergaming won't displace team sports. However, not everyone can get involved with a team sport. Cost, location, time - you name it. Exergaming is going to deliver many of the advantages of team sports without as many costs or constraints, and it's going to be huge.
ryanelkins 16y ago
One nice thing about this idea is it lets people jump in and participate when they have time and not be beholden to a schedule or have to rely on a team. It's sort of like an FPS where if you have 15 minutes to kill, you can log in, get some headshots, and log out. It's a team thing but the players can come and go without too much of a structure around it.
brc 16y ago
I'm with you - it's a perverse situation where you're intentionally designing an abstraction layer between yourself and individual or team sports. There's a neat-o factor in this, but one more suited for a fairground attraction rather than a template for day-to-day exercise. It's just easier to circumvent the technology and go to the gym with a friend, or to join a rowing team, etc, etc. I wonder daily why I run past people inside on their running machines, when running outside is free and immensely more enjoyable. I do sometimes worry that people are trying to abstract away too much of their life and live in solo-yet-connected worlds. Gyms are already a shortcut to getting real movement and activity in your day, but to substitute interaction along with your physical movement feels completely like an optimization step in the wrong direction, like freeze drying food for longer storage, when just going to the shop for fresh food is quite easy for most people, and a far superior solution.

by feral 16y ago

Right. What he's describing is just like team rowing, or tug-o-war or a sport like american football, rugby, basketball, etc. We've had this technology for thousands of years.

Kuiper 16y ago

What Scott Adams is proposing is a system that would allow individuals to compete in team rowing or tug-o-war competitions with individuals from other cities/countries/continents via the internet, which would be new technology. It's sort of like the transition from local multiplayer on a game console to online play. Home multiplayer video games have been around since the 80's, but it's not until recently that they've made their way online. The internet is a great tool because it ensures that you never suffer from a lack of available teammates/competitors. In the olden days, your ability to partipate was dependant on those around you having the same interest. Scott suggests setting up gyms for this kind of thing, but the beauty is that with the proper equipment, anyone would be able to compete from home. This could be a boon for people living in more remote/rural areas who want to compete in team athletic events. Plus, there's all kinds of other neat things that you can have the tech do with regards to scoring, like having a system to scale/normalize scores so that a team of 10 adults can compete against a team of 10 children and come out with roughly a 50/50 win ratio.

acgourley 16y ago

This observation is correct; exergaming won't displace team sports. However, not everyone can get involved with a team sport. Cost, location, time - you name it. Exergaming is going to deliver many of the advantages of team sports without as many costs or constraints, and it's going to be huge.

ryanelkins 16y ago

One nice thing about this idea is it lets people jump in and participate when they have time and not be beholden to a schedule or have to rely on a team. It's sort of like an FPS where if you have 15 minutes to kill, you can log in, get some headshots, and log out. It's a team thing but the players can come and go without too much of a structure around it.

brc 16y ago

I'm with you - it's a perverse situation where you're intentionally designing an abstraction layer between yourself and individual or team sports. There's a neat-o factor in this, but one more suited for a fairground attraction rather than a template for day-to-day exercise. It's just easier to circumvent the technology and go to the gym with a friend, or to join a rowing team, etc, etc. I wonder daily why I run past people inside on their running machines, when running outside is free and immensely more enjoyable. I do sometimes worry that people are trying to abstract away too much of their life and live in solo-yet-connected worlds. Gyms are already a shortcut to getting real movement and activity in your day, but to substitute interaction along with your physical movement feels completely like an optimization step in the wrong direction, like freeze drying food for longer storage, when just going to the shop for fresh food is quite easy for most people, and a far superior solution.