Notebooks.com has a cool article about the NBA using ThinkPads courtside at their games. The ThinkPads are X60 Tablet PCs to keep track of stats, the clock, and to help the officials during the game.
Quote:
Lenovo provides ThinkPads and desktops for the league to use at each of the 29 NBA arenas, but technology demands are especially critical during the finals.
At the courtside statisticians’ table, X60 tablets are used to keep track of hundreds shots, fouls and other events during games. As many as three statisticians use X60 touch-screens to quickly enter the details of each play.
“It makes the job a lot easier,†Gliedman said. “We have had touch-screens in the past, but until now it was always third party. The statisticians like the experience much better.â€
Statistics collected at courtside are distributed to media at the arena and sent to the Stats Gateway, which is located under the stands. The gateway relays the information to the NBA’s database in New Jersey.
Referees constantly interact with computers both on and off court. Each time they blow their whistle to start or stop the game clock, a ThinkPad works with the NBA’s Precision Timing System to log the event. Just a few years ago clock starts and stops were controlled manually and it was impossible to tell exactly when a whistle was blown. As basketball fans know, a fraction of a second can change the outcome of a game.
Full article with several pictures of the ThinkPad X60 Tablet PCs in action.