This is a sponsored post. Mikki Moore's pet python destroyed my rutabaga crop, and I have nothing but words to sell at the farmer's market. This is the farmer's market, right?

I don't have a smart phone. Whenever it's time for me to consider a new phone, I think about making the leap into the world of the "data plan." <<cue horror movie score>> I have never made the plunge, despite a professional Twitter presence, and more e-mail than I can ever answer, and a blog, and the constant thirst for scores and info. I suppose there's a fear of becoming connected to a computer-like device 90% of the time instead of the current 80%. My disconnected minutes are sparse, but important.

I realize I am quite nearly alone in this stance. People laughed when it came out a couple years ago that Stephen A. Smith submitted his newspaper columns by typing them in an e-mail on his phone. I sincerely doubt Stephen A. would be alone in doing that today. (In fact, I know he would not be alone.) It's simply not a joke to work like that these days -- with all the gadgets, it's almost quaint to do all work, research and communication at a desk. Honestly, what's the difference between me and my laptop and another writer with his tablet or phone? Technology has rendered invisible the difference between today's mobile office and the standard tethered option.

It will only go further and further. Laptops and tablets may very well be turning desktop computers into workplace niche products. Phones and netbooks may render laptops less popular. Someday, the SB Nation software may be implanted in my brain, and I may whisper my preview posts into the system. You will be able to comment telepathically, andy sims will be able to snark on you without blinking, and you will rec items with a simple and literal thumbs up. This is the world developing before us. A world of virtual Arthur Fonzarellis.

Note: This is a sponsored post. The Taliban has my poodle, and I need to commission a troupe of cyborgs to get her back.

Last week, I talked about how much DVR has changed the way I watch sports. But let's not forget about high-definition TV. While it hasn't revolutionized my sports viewership the way DVR has, many many fans can't watch games in standard def.

And given that through local cable packages or League Pass you can watch every game your favorite team plays, with nearly all of those in high-def, there could be a disincentive to attending games. Watching Kings-Lakers on your 55" in high-def isn't the same as attending the game live (even if you have the Sactown Royalty game thread open) -- but it's a nice facsimile.

Right?

Have you attended less basketball games since every game became available on TV, or because the picture is so good now?

Note: this is a sponsored post, as the little bar above this should indicate. rbiegler has run out of porridge; I hope you'll understand.

I watched Kings basketball in the '90s. It was not particularly easy, especially as a teenager without money, without wheels, and without anyone to take me to games. Also, there was homework. And occasionally, a social life. And of course, not every game was televised. To see that Channel 31-Kings logo wipe onto the screen was something magical, and heartening. Even if shots of Olden Polynice warming up followed.

It wasn't easy to be a Kings fan in the '90s, for me at least, but technology has changed all of that.

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