Pros and cons of an upgrade

I run a ludicrously tin pot operation. I've had the same mobile phone for seven years - so old that it can't even send text messages. My computer was second hand when I bought it at the start of 2000. Broadband, media player - forget about it. It's nothing more than a glorified word processor.

But all this is about to change. I'm in the process of buying myself a new laptop. I'm dazzled by the thing. No task seems too complicated for this shiny contraption to accomplish. I'm delighted with it. I'm also terrified. I'll explain why.

I remember turning up in Brazil almost exactly 12 years ago. I quickly found myself in trouble. Without so much as consulting me, the Brazilian government had just dealt with the long running problem of hyper-inflation by introducing what was at the time a massively over-valued new currency, the Real. It was then worth more than the US dollar. The savings I had brought with me were wiped out within a few weeks. Taxis, then, were totally out of the question. When I had enough money to go to the football, it was strictly public transport.

A subway station stands alongside the Maracana stadium. The underground system in Rio de Janeiro is not nearly as extensive as it should be, but even so it is an important means of mass transport - quick, clean and safe, ideal for carrying thousands to and from events at the stadium. But - and this always used to enrage me - on match days it was all but useless. On Sundays, the main day of football, it was closed. And it shut down before the end of most mid-week games, which commonly kick off once the soap operas have finished on TV at 9.45pm.

Trying to get back home around midnight was like a tropical version of Napoleon's retreat from Russia. Obviously, thousands congregated at the bus stops. Fearing trouble, the bus drivers generally refused to stop. The best course of action was to walk away from the crowds and try to catch the bus at a quieter point on the route - which entailed a trip down dark and unsafe streets.

Arriving home could take forever - and this is a city where hours of work are long and transport is sub-standard. Some fans took so long to get back that when they reached their house it was almost time to get up for work. Thankfully the situation has improved a little since then.

Rio is staging next year's Pan American Games. A far-sighted politician used the occasion to force the subway to extend its working hours. It is a giant step in the right direction. But for football fans, and millions of citizens, the city's public transport network remains well short of adequate.

There were many times, as I stood at the bus stop, when I saw the press drive by and wondered why they never seemed to use their position to draw attention to this scandalous situation, which was doing such harm to Rio football.

It was a silly question. It wasn't their problem. For a start, most of the journalists are from the middle class or above. This is in part due to the absurd requirement for those entering the profession to have degrees in journalism. This began as a measure by the military dictatorship to ensure control of the press, and quickly became a method of middle class protectionism, a barrier against the ambitions of the poor.

For the members of the press, public transport had never been their thing. They were above it all - as they could reflect speeding past the bus stops in company car plus driver - labour is cheap in Brazil, so most of the papers and TV and radio stations have drivers to take their journos to the match.

It taught me a lesson I've always tried to remember in my own work. The football world is full of people cosseted in five star hotels, isolated from the conditions of the fans and the players of the future but the game is a celebration of collective urban space. It is impossible to have a full understanding of the cultural phenomenon of football if you don't know how to get to the stadium by public transport and on foot.

This is especially true if you are trying to get to grips with cultures other than your own, as has been my case over the last few years. The great advantage, then, of my stone-age technology was that it left me with nothing to lose. It let me take to the streets.

Wandering round South America with a brand new laptop changes the rules. It will force me to be more cautious. This new contraption could cause as many problems as it solves.

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