Popular Science has a feature on the sports stadiums of tomorrow, one of them being Cisco Field, future home of the Oakland A's. Apparently Cisco needed something to do with a bunch of spare cable it had lying around, and is thinking about adding interactive wireless touchscreens to every seat (!). These in-seat displays would be capable of calling up driving routes out of the park, player statistics, and even the shortest bathroom lines. And forget trips to the concession stand — just order a hot dog right from the onscreen menu.

Besides the obvious concern of putting a sophisticated piece of technology in the hands of drunken and rowdy superfans, this thing probably isn't as useful as the designers think it is. I mean, traffic is always murder after a game. Roving concession guys have let people order snacks from their seats for decades. And even if you could find a shorter bathroom line, would you really want to walk all the way to the other side of the stadium to find it?

It's not the worst idea, but high-tech efforts are probably better spent in overall stadium design, like Tampa Bay's planned stadium for 2012, which will pump chilled water through the structure to keep your seats cool. We like.

Via Popular Science