During the Long Beach GP weekend, some of us where holed up in the basement media center for the weekend. We occasionally got up for some sun and race action, but most of the time we typed on our laptops updating IndyCar.com, adding images to Flickr, tweeting and more. The highlight, especially for a new media guy, was looking up during the IndyCar session and seeing Tony Kanaan holding an iPad on TV -
Tony Kanaan Tweeting?
If you’re a geek like me or an Apple fan, it’s hard not to get excited by this image. We posted this screen shot to Flickr over the LB weekend and it quickly become our most popular picture of the weekend. Was he tweeting, reading a book, looking at Timing and Scoring? I wondered the same. Technology is an integral part of the IndyCar Series, so it’s not too surprising to see an iPad – but it is pretty cool nonetheless. I wanted to know more.
This also got me thinking. Are there any other sports or athletes utilizing the iPad during games, races, events? I know that the iPad is perfect for sports fans and fantasy leagues, but I couldn’t find any examples of athletes or coaches utilizing it during ‘a game’. Is Tony the first athlete to use an iPad professionally? He might be, but I’m not sure – and if you know, please comment.
So what was Tony doing with the iPad? We visited him yesterday at the Andretti Autosport garage during a quiet day at Kansas Speedway to find out. Tony is web savvy, active on twitter and a tech junkie and explains everything in this clip. Enjoy.
Great clip, fascinating bit. I wonder which sports are most tech-friendly in different ways.
Very cool. I’ll be bringing mine to Indy in May. Will IMS let me bring it in to the track? Should be some great racing this year. My bet is on the Andretti Autosport team.
As long as your beer isn’t in a glass bottle and you leave your little brother at home, you can bring just about anything
Nice. Thanks for the laughs BW.
Apple should kick in some $$ for sponsorship. What a great sell!!
Soccer can be also an interesting environment for gadgets. Here is a story about a Manchester United goalkepper who used an iPod to watch the patterns of his opponents in penalty kicks http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/03/02/manchester-united-goalkeeper-used-ipod-to-help-his-team-win-carling-cup/
Cheers!
Thanks everyone for your comments.
TC – I do recall Ben Foster studying opponents penalty kicks now that you mention it. SO COOL.
It is a nice and spontaneous ad. Apple should watch it. iPad has everything to do with sport. Great clip Tony! You will win this race!
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Good, interesting video! Wow the series really seems to be taking off. Izod has had a very positive impact. . . I’m going to update my wardrobe soon!
He should grab the new Track Guide app from National Speedway Directory! http://bit.ly/9RU1AO
I found this cool feature on the Future of the Indy 500 on Indianapolis Monthly’s website, check it out! http://www.indianapolismonthly.com/2010/05-May/Features/Future-of-the-500/The-Future-of-the-500.aspx
[...] Harrison Painter Social Media Consultant 317.871.1000 Video Credits and Original blog post to: IndyCar Blog var a2a_config = a2a_config || {}; a2a_config.linkname="iPad Case Study: What Problem Does it [...]
[...] a recent post, I wrote about seeing Tony Kanaan using an iPad in pitlane – very cool. After that, I started [...]
Hi, how is Tony reviewing this data on the iPad? Is it a custom application… an Excel spreadsheet…? Thanks for any info!
[...] was spotted earlier this season, using an iPad in pit [...]
[...] is? It’s a screen capture of Tony Kanaan in pit lane at Long Beach. This pic also inspired a blog post earlier this year. He certainly gets cool points for this. TK checking out timing and scoring in [...]
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