It’s the World Cup and I, along with many others I’m sure, care about little else right now. Goodbye family and friends. Hello Gary Lineker, Thiery Henry and (unfortunately) Phil Neville. Guten tag penalty heartache and crushing defeat, good to see you again. As sad as that sounds, I really couldn’t be happier.
But let’s talk technology. After all, this is a technology blog and this World Cup is set to be the most technologically advanced ever – although that’s hardly saying much.
We’re only at the group stages but already I’m struck by technology’s role in the beautiful game. On-field, this is the first World Cup to make use of goal-line technology. Provided you didn’t have it explained to you by Jonathan Pearce, you’ll know that this nifty piece of kit helps the referee decide whether or not the ball has indeed crossed the line. Even if you don’t know much about football, you probably recognise that knowing if the ball has crossed the line and whether a goal should be awarded is a pretty important part of the game. There’s also vanishing spray, which is extremely low-tech (at best), but I still think it’s marvellous.
Moving away from the pitch, you’ll see technology’s role is equally pronounced this World Cup. For me, the tournament is a unique and powerful demonstration of how the internet has developed over the last four years and how far online communities have grown and changed in this time, as has the viewing experience. A case in point, watching an incredibly dull game such as Iran vs Nigeria is almost enjoyable provided you can follow the Twitter commentary and the creative arm-chair punditry of friends, celebs and (let’s be honest) total strangers too. I’m not sure I would’ve said the same four years ago and may have switched off.
Likewise the World Cup serves as a great internet barometer, highlighting the significant growth of sites like Reddit and Buzzfeed. For example, Reddit’s popular /r/soccer thread for the first match of this year's World Cup has ~3,500 upvotes and ~15,000 comments. To put this into perspective, the thread for the 2010 final managed just ~314 upvotes and ~1,400 comments. Similarly, Buzzfeed is now very much a go-to site for post-match content and analysis – a miraculous transformation for a website famous cat videos.
I for one can’t wait to see how technology will be used for the rest of the tournament and will make sure to revisit this blog in four years time, during the 2018 WC, to see how things have changed by then. Hover-board referees anyone?
[UPDATE] A German colleague, who shall remain nameless, emailed the Germany vs Portugal score on Monday afternoon, which I had recorded on Sky+. Ignore the enthusiasm above; I’m now boycotting all forms of technology until after the World Cup final on Sun 13 July.
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