Since 1856, America’s pastime has been named baseball. In modern times, this name no longer fits. Too many times TV cameras have panned around during a baseball game, only to see that the stadium is half-filled, full of fans on their smartphones. We need to face it, though, with screens clogging up our day to day lives, it’s inevitable that a live sport, especially one over such a long duration as baseball will fall in popularity. People are interested in instant gratification, something that baseball fails to provide. America’s pastime is one that combines both instant gratification and a long-term use, cell phone surfing.
Phones are an easy refuge. When bored while waiting at the bank, a restaurant or any other place, it is easy to pull out a smartphone and surf the web or play games. These magical devices can be used as a tool for leisure as well. According to Android Central, in 2015 nearly 500 million people had downloaded the Facebook app, allowing them to stay connected to social media, even when away from home. Facebook, like many other smartphone apps is free, compared to the $25 you would have to shell out to go sit in the upper decks of a baseball stadium.
Although Americans relish instant gratification, there is something about the fact of a long-lasting prize that is even more important. A baseball game may last three hours: a cell phone, a year at least. Combine that with the fact that the usage of a cell phone is always expanding. A new app can provide days of fun and can be downloaded in a matter of seconds, something that a generation of screen-lovers can appreciate.
Baseball is falling in popularity. People would rather sit at home with a cell phone in hand rather than go out to a baseball game and enjoy a sport that has been called America’s pastime for 160 years. The reason: cell phones give people activities instantly, activities which provide days of pleasure. If baseball doesn’t make an effort to speed up and make the game more enjoyable for fans, it will lose the few fans it has remaining. And until the popularity of baseball rises again, the pastime of America is cell phone surfing.
