With less than 40 days left till the World Cup kicks off on June 11th this year we can only imagine what sort of visitors we can expect and how will they access their information on the event. Everything is now available online from booking tickets, planning transport and planning accommodation. But if you want to skip all of that administration you could always just watch the matches on the television.
With matches being shown on SABC, every TV licence subscriber with a match schedule, is amply prepared to watch the matches free of charge and even record the match if they want to watch or re-watch it later. I would like to discuss not so much the technology here but the concept of eradicating time and space constraints that would ordinarily allow only for the most elite of citizens to gain access to such a monumental event.
Soccer in Africa, certainly in South Africa, has always been a community sport for spectators. People of all classes and culture come together at pubs, homes and football fields to spectate the sport bringing together a hybrid mix of people who despite their differences celebrate and cheer together.
With the advance in technology however, specifically now with the World Cup nearby, one has to contemplate how because tickets are so expensive and matches so randomly located around the country if it would just be easier to forgo comradery and watch them solo after spending a fraction of the cost on a good TV and some beverages. No long lines at the gates, no horrid facilities to deal with and no drunken brawls to break up.
In terms of our culture, South Africa has made soccer a big part of it and with television access becoming more and more viable it seems like there is a threat on the unification that the sport promotes.
Even though HDTV (High Definition Television) seems far off, other technologies are providing for affordable ways to access media content like cellphones providing match clips with sports reports or internet providing streaming of the game as it happens. Once again, the advent of technology may be contributing to our cyber-culture but perhaps diluting the richness of our everyday South African culture.
