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NFL Teams Considering IPads To Replace Playbooks
bonch writes "Pete Walsh, technology head for the Dallas Cowboys, says he and other teams are considering iPads and other tablets as a replacement for paper playbooks, saving about 5,000 pages of printouts per game. Not only is it a huge savings in paper, but a lost iPad might also be remotely wiped to prevent a team's plays falling into the wrong hands. One concern is security and whether or not a tablet could be wirelessly hacked."
Good luck using it with gloves on
Turn the wireless function off
Duh???
Give a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day. But light a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
Clearly it was hacked once before...
ios has to much apple back doors and other stuff that the NFL will not like. Android is better as the they can side load and don't have to deal with any apple BS.
Kindle, on the other hand, makes total sense.
iPad is total overkill, Kindle is way way WAY cheaper and does all the same things that they need to do.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Just load everything locally onto the tablet, don't load plays over wifi--and they'll be good.
Honestly, they're no more or less secure than someone stealing your playbook at that point.
I didn't know they have a different playbook every week. What do they actually do with them? If the 5,000 pages is copies for half a dozen coaches, that's almost 1000 pages each, which I can't imagine they're flipping through between plays. Or is it 50 pages for each of 100 players and coaches? But that doesn't make sense, I can't imagine they're memorizing 50 pages of plays per game.
There are numerous stories just related to my favorite team that involve lost plays or playbooks. One story involved a coach who was talking with a bartender late one night and diagrammed a play on a napkin, which was later scooped up by a fan of the opponent and passed on. Another was a prominent running back who lost his playbook halfway through the season, and it reportedly fell into the hands of a division rival. Remote wipe might be quite useful.
More ways to confuse Chad Henne.
This article reminded me of the classic 1970s Xerox ad. But what would they do in weather like that? Maybe they plan to always play in domed stadiums.
In a lovely twist of irony, RIM's would-be iPad killer is actually CALLED the "Playbook".
As they can be used for other activities during the upcoming lock-out.
I don't know what the typical IT staff is for an NFL pro team, but I expect that they have some folks dedicated to electronic and computer equipment, etc.. Setting that stuff up in a constantly changing remote station can be hairy.
The problem may not be the physical control of the devices themselves, but all the different versions and retention policies. With a printout you can physically hand in a document and have it checked off as returned. Sure, people can photocopy or scan it, but that's a lot more difficult than just downloading a file. Stealing a physical playbook involves physical access. Stealing a playbook, getting it to the opponent, and verifying that the evidence is gone after it's used is even more difficult.
Add tablets and I would imagine that the users would put not only playbook information on it, but also emails and other documentation. Imagine if a pending trade is made public? And unlike paper, stealing a document now no longer means trying to get by some burly security guards.
Go Dolphins.
They should use self-destructing cards.
duhh! all you have to do is get it out of the premises, then follow disassembly instructions. why not just put "free ippad, here!" on the screens? honestly :)
Can't the NFL just plant chips in the players' brain that can store all the secret stuff in the playbooks? I'm sure that innovative countries like India and China can do this.
Probably.
Watch the next cricket match with India, and get suspicious when the players start banging their heads during the games. Of course, maybe a country with ~billion folks can field an excellent cricket side?
Now, with American Football, some linebacker, 6 foot tall (~2 meters), and weighing 240 pounds (~120 kilograms), is able to shove the guy from the other side on his ass, he should be able to use a pocket scanner to read the chip in the other guy's brain.
Maybe the rules will be changed to prevent implants?
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
I guess they'll just choose from that bevy of high quality Android tablets out there.... oh wait.
Now a days the video cameras are so tiny, so hidable and with WiFi built in too. It would be far easier to find a vantage point over the practice field of the opponent and smuggle in and hide a camera and tape the practice sessions. Most of the plays are acted out and explained by the coaches in the field. Also you could see the weakness of each player by the amount of practice time spent and repeated on a particular piece of work. Just by looking at the line up you may be able to guess the play.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Security is not an insurmountable deal, but:
1) Size. Too small for showing plays to a group
2) Speed. ChangIng apps (or sections of an app) costs a few seconds, which will not be tolerated in a timeout, not when paper and dry erase are instant.
3) Screen problems. Day games are sunny; night games are almost ad bright. The iPad's screen does not do well in those conditions. The viewing angle especially is awful; in a sideline gathering of players, the players not directly in front won't be able to see a thing.
4) Durability. Weather, accidents, histrionic coaches, tantrums, and Gatorade bats. NFL teams certainly have the cash to replace them, but no coach is going to accept waiting while the gofer fetches a replacement.
Tablets are a natural replacement for playbooks Monday->Saturday, but they have a long way to go to be sideline material.
I think the Washington Wizards of the NBA already does that
lack of conscience etc... instead of dismissing/criticizing things we do not yet understand, & forcing OUR gov.media to constantly raise the hate/fear levels about folks that are just like us, while they're being shot at by one of our premier 'business partners', there's plenty for US to be wary of/change immediately. see you on the other side of it? after the baby feeding is caught up, & we stop being persuaded to live in the grandest of isolations.
Battery is built in. Apple decided that like all of their devices - form over function.
A PDF can be easily transferred and distribute. Passwords on a PDF can be cracked in seconds with open source tools.
...that whatever your feelings about Apple and it's products, I hope you can all join me in wishing that their co-founder and figurehead Steve Jobs croaks really quite soon. If you care about freedom and love computers then it goes without saying that this is what many of us have been hoping for.
Are they wanting to use a custom app for this?
Is Apple going to let them?
It's so nice to see such rich companies falling all over themselves to submit to Apple's ridiculous policies.
More likely, they don't know about that insanity yet, or think it doesn't apply to them.
... Apple changes the rules so playbooks can only be distributed via iTunes(tm) inStore(tm) iPay(tm) and not downloaded or copied from any other source. They also activated the iFuse(tm) to permanently disable the iPort(tm) on all iDevices(tm) to fight playbook piracy, billions of people loose their jobs (muahahah) due to PlayBookPiracy!
As opposed to the bevy of high quality iPads out there? In a month or two there will be at least as many high quality Android tablets on the market as there are iPads.
We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
Belichick is drueling over this. If the NFL goes with I-Pads I'm sure the Patriots will win the next five Super Bowls and be undefeated each season.
"Where are we supposed to go?", "The further South the better, Mexico or parts of Florida that aren't flooded."
Dr Hall in "The Day After Tomorrow"
Go North Central Florida.
saving about 5,000 pages of printouts per game. Not only is it a huge savings
Somehow, I'm getting the feeling that 5000 pieces of paper is not the only, nor largest, waste resulting from the professional sports industry.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
So 5,000 pages of paper. That's one case (actually 1/2 a case if you assume duplex printing). Buying high-quality paper, that's going to be $50 or less ($25 for half a case).
An entry-level business-grade B&W laser printer costs maybe $500, will handle 100,000 pages in its lifetime, and takes toner cartridges that print between 7500 and 15000 pages each at about $200 each retail. Being a little excessive and buying a new printer per season, a case of paper per game, and a new toner cart every other game, you get 500 (cost of one printer) + 1 (cases of paper per game) * 16 (games) * 50 (cost of one ream) + 0.5 (carts per game) * 16 (games) * 200 (cost of one toner cart) = $2900, or an amortized total cost of $0.36 per page. And that's being very generous on retail costs and consumables. I routinely print conference proceedings (18k total pages) for an amortized total cost for closer to $0.05 per page by shopping around even just a little. If they're printing in color, I'd expect the amortized total cost to be between 2 and 3 times higher, so, with a little work, perhaps $0.15 per page, but still well under the generous estimate of $2900.
Each iPad costs, what $500? And they need what, one per player, coach, assistant coach, owner, etc.? The so-called savings are a slight-of-hand distraction. They just want iPads.
Even if you were to say that the saved paper, not money, was really the issue, and that saving 16 cases of paper (probably 8, since if they're concerned, they'd already be printing duplex) was important, I'd point to the 10-or-so tons of recycled material per game that envionmentally conscious teams like the Ravens are capable of (http://www.mdstad.com/content/view/96/42/) that dwarf one (1/2) case of paper.
Again, they just want iPads.
As the linked article suggests, there are many things you could do with iPads that you can't do with a traditional printed playbook, like review plays, run simulations, etc., but the teams should be upfront with that and not toss the public a propaganda bone like paper savings that can be shown to be irrelevant in the bigger picture.
Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
Bill Belichick gets them hacked before the first game.
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
Really, I would be surprised if either was used (outside of an over-hyped trial period). It's kind of like the "paperless office" idea where everything sounds nice and efficient, but human beings still work well with paper documents and if all you care about it running a business well, it doesn't necessarily add up to real savings to do what is mathematically better.
It's hilarious to watch people try to use their iPads on trains, buses, or just walking around. Large tablet devices seem to be better suited for sitting on a couch (which I guess would explain how all the advertising around here is with users sitting, holding it on their bent knee). I suppose the NFL could use smaller devices, but now you're making an unnecessary compromise, since paper does not need to be smaller to be as mobile.
Also, on a humorous-yet-realistic note, what's the savings (monetary and environmental) cost of not using a bunch of paper, when you're having to constantly replace smashed tablets?
Sure, chose a platform whose central theme is malware. Brilliant.
During the game, the QB is often seen reviewing formations from plays just run - as overhead photographs of the field faxed down from the team box high in the stands. That's cutting edge for the 1970s. The offensive line, whose members have the highest IQs on the team, sit on the bench while a coach yells/encourages/coaches them. With a tablet like an iPad, the staff could send down video of the previous plays with audio and onscreen comments. The linemen, running backs, ends, etc, could all get specific instructions and adjustments.
The playbook could be more than static Xs and Ox - the formations would move, the concepts could be illustrated with game footage of your team and opponents. You could show how plays are supposed to go using Madden emulations. You could show what to look for happening across the line from a field level vantage.
Players drive to the stadium to review films with their position coaches and coordinators. With a tablet, communal film viewing could be complemented by the players watching any game film any time they want.
Sports often seem to me to be behind the curve when it comes to utilizing tech. When a pitcher comes out of a baseball game and wraps his $10 million a year arm in a towel to try and keep it at the optimal temperature, I shake my head.
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
The head coach of the Jets would be logged onto foot fetish sites checking out ladies' bare feet into the night, and when the other coaches stopped by he would quickly switch to the game plan.
ios has to much apple back doors and other stuff that the NFL will not like. Android is better as the they can side load and don't have to deal with any apple BS.
Actually, if you read the specs iOS has Android beat hands down for security features. And what exactly are these back doors? I can't seem to find a reference to them anywhere.
Is it really the teams themselves or is it just one playbook pitted against another and the players are just there to provide some colour?
It seems as if the NFL could just be replaced by a large D&D session with the refs as the DMs
I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
All they really need in order to deal with rain and snow, etc, is a decent protective case. All they really need for the touch interface issue is simply don't use it. Instead, just plug a simple tactile device into the USB that attaches securely to the side of the case. Honestly, I think a bunch PSP style devices would work better for this though.
I do not respond to cowards. Especially anonymous ones.
If game time system penetration had some substantial and direct influence on the outcome I might finally take an interest in football. Especially if it were taking place across the field with lots of indiscreet high power directional antennas and such. A few playbook honeypots might REALLY make things interesting.
iPad, on the other hand, can show the plays in motion (per TFA), could show the last play in near real-time, and do other things besides show a static paper replacement. That's the whole point of the iPad. Of course, if all you do is read books, the Kindle is great. But they can do SO much more with the iPad - like write their own, team-centric apps.
I thought the PlayBook wasn't even released yet, and they're already thinking about replacing it?
(a confused BlackBerry user)
IF the NFL goes this way, I want to see their playbooks in the Ap Store. If I can;t make my own custom Aps without apple getting all pissy about me doing it, I better see the NFL Playbook there.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"First things first -- but not necessarily in that order"
-- The Doctor, "Doctor
The Playbook could be the ultimate playbook killer!
Paper can be made from recyclable materials and can be grown and made from grass instead of wood pulp. Please let me know which trees lithium and aluminium grow on and how quickly these "magical materials" disintegrate in a waste dump. An average Ipad will be used for a year. This is not environmentally friendly. I will take 5000 sheets of paper made from grass and even wood pulp over IPADs in this case.
This is a stupid argument. Yes it's convenient: let's call a kettle what it really is --- Black.
Prove it. Otherwise, your statement is FUD.
I'm particularly fond of the part where it allows other people to steal a copy of the playbook and no one would even know one was missing.
In a month or two there will be at least as many high quality Android tablets on the market as there are iPads.
Um, that would be one. There is one iPad at the moment. Sure, there are a few different configuration options (more GB's and/or 3G connectivity), but there is only the 1st generation iPad right now. If you mean units then they better sell a shit load in the next two months.
"One concern is security and whether or not a tablet could be wirelessly hacked."
Yeah - whether or... what?
Now, mod me down freely. My karma can't get any worse...
Interesting that someone has found the ability for your iPad to be wiped remotely without your knowledge to be a "benefit".
On the subject of securing their playbook, I would think the best thing to do is to assume that the wireless network WILL be compromised, and design around that. Simply load the playbook physically (or over a more secure, non-publicly accessible network) onto each device. Transmitting play information could be done wirelessly, but you wouldn't transmit the play itself. Rather, a hash of the play ID and the timestamp. Make sure the app has built-in protection against "double-post" errors, and use decent encryption, and the wireless issue should be moot. Not to say there won't still be security concerns at other levels, but they should be fairly analogous to those that already exist.
last i knew they were all using laptops because of the availability of video and animations. have been for years.
Check your contract. It says Apple has the right to revoke your apps' certificates without cause or warning. Lose the app, you lose access to your data.
You seem to be referring to public apps distributed on the App Store to the general population. However there are also corporate apps that are distributed only to those within the organization and not to the public in general. The rules are likely to be quite different for the later.
More importantly the current playbook is not likely to be an app. Perhaps its just a PDF or data for custom app.
in freezing rain, -15f temperatures, being dropped every so often, taking the occasional hit when action leaves the field of play?
I guess they could just have stacks and stacks of replacements on the ready.
Excess (especially with technological toys) is probably as American as football. After all, the best solution is the shiniest one that generates the most revenue for other companies, right?
Performance must be inherent in every aspect of the system. It is not an afterthought, but always thought. - me
So now someone can wirelessly steal your playbook, and you're saving 5,000 pages of paper while there are still tons of leaflets and crap on the ground everywhere and on the windshields in the parking lot. Great job.
You do realize that RIM has a PlayBook coming out. Makes for a confusing headline..
Just in case someone couldn't figure that little tidbit out.
Its the reason Ndomukong Suh donated iPads to the Nebraska football team. Its my understanding that they've been moving to copmuterized means to study the play book and game film for a look time.
Find out which toilet paper brand NFL teams prefer!
The joy of american entertainment, very high value indeed!
I think an e-ink device like the Kindle makes more sense. You can't read an IPad worth a darn in bright sunlight.
aw man, until I read this comment I was thinking of getting an iPad, but since I can assume from what you are saying there is no way to read .pdf s on the iPad I guess you saved me a lot of headaches.
Like anyone can even know that
How do I rate down a story with this new Slashdot? NFL, Inc. using iPads? Who fucking cares?
I don't respond to AC's.
Huh huh. Heh heh. Huh huh.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Yes, the "form" being "remove all of the space taken up by door mechanisms and clips/bays/docking connectors" and use that space to increase the size of the battery so the majority of users (who never replace their battery) get longer battery life. Thus, function *and* form for the vast majority of users.
For those that need to replace the battery, it can be done at a service, or you can do it yourself with a third party replacement.
This is a cute idea, except they will probably burn as much or more energy then it takes to print those pages and make those pages, powering all those ipads. It's a wash on terms of energy conservation.
> One concern is security and whether or not a tablet could be wirelessly hacked.
Hmm. Depends on the incentive. Is there any money in sports?
In reading the (non) erudite comments to this article, ALL I have seen is an excuse for (even more) Apple-bashing (are you Androids REALLY that insecure?!?). It is nearly impossible to find a comment that isn't "Apple is teh evilz!" nonsense (or someone correcting that idiocy).
Where are the comments and questions like "Hey, that might be a good idea!", or "I wonder if it will be rugged enough?", or "Wouldn't the iPhone be better for this, since it is pocket-able?", or "This would be much better than printed playbooks, because it would allow playbooks to be ANIMATED", or even "Aren't they afraid that someone could watch a playbook play "play out" on the iPad over a player's shoulder"? BUT, NOOOOOOOO!
instead, all (or the majority of commenters to Apple-centric articles) of the the supposedly "techie" slashdotters can worry about is how you "sign" a FUCKING PDF, fercrissakes, or (ignorantly ranting) "They will have to jailbreak their iPads to "sideload" (whatever the fuck THAT stupid term means!) the playbooks into their iPads." Or the just-as-ignorant "They'll have to submit their playbook apps to the App Store."
Where is the intelligent discourse on the TECHNICAL merits (or lack thereof) of the topic? No, instead, it seems to be getting JUST like IRC (and the reason I stopped using it within about 30 days) : Just a bunch of whiny brats with arrested social development and nothing better to do, trying to back-bite and punish-mod (remember all the "nuking" and "banning" that went/goes on on IRC?) those who's OPINION with which they happen to DISAGREE.
Slashdot is rapidly devolving into "News For Nerds, Comments that are irrelevant" status.
It's a tablet. Form is part of its function...
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
Whats the point in the mention of saving paper? Gadgets like the iPad has the environmental impact of a lot of paper, many times it's weight in paper. Such a large ammount that I doubt the iPad would make real benefit to the environment before it becomes toxic unrecyclable e-waste in a year or two.
Although energy intensive, paper is also a endlessly renewable resource, and close to 100% recyclable. Perhaps not in practice, but it could be.
After logging in slashdot still does not take you back to the page you were on. It's been that way for 20 years.
iBooks is free and reads them just fine. I'm sure there are non-apple apps too.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
Those ladies need to wear more pads.
"5,000 pages by 100 playbooks means a very manageable 50 pages per player, per game"
And that's only for the *defensive* team.
WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
What in the hell are you talking about? You can barely even write properly.
Is this the Microsoft strategy of counting units shipped rather than units actually bought?
Uh, there are multiple ways to read PDFs on an iPad. Word of advice--don't come to Slashdot for buying tips.
What are you talking about? The rest of us aren't talking about market share, we're talking about available purchasing options.
We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
Yes, that was my point. There does not need to be a bevy of high quality Android tablets available to compete with the iPad, you only need one good one.
We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
word of advice, sometimes people on /. are sarcastic ;)
Like anyone can even know that
Problem is, you can't replace it RIGHT NOW. Now the NFL might just have a backup with the same plays and can just swap devices (bad way, but if you rely on it that much...), but what about other places where iPads are supposed to be great like medical? If you are capturing data locally, you can't even switch to another one.
Analogies don't equal equalities, they are merely somewhat analogous.
Don't worry. That Cowboys playbook would never leak to the internet. Never ever.
http://isohunt.com/torrent_details/96717281/The+Playbook+pdf?tab=summary
There's an app for that.
Forget the iPad. The Blackberry Playbook is obviously the right choice for a playbook!
You back up the data... same as any other mobile computing device that has a removable battery.
The fact that the battery is only replaceable by taking the unit apart has no relevancy whatsoever in this case. You either plug it in with a booster (and there are several iPad cases that have one built in, so that the iPad essentially "docks" with the case and provides power via the dock connector, or you swap devices and just hit up the server for a resync.
If any organisation was using iPads (or any mobile computing device: laptops/phones/memory sticks) as a sole point of data failure then they have bigger problems than a limited lifespan on lithium polymer cells.
With a tablet, you could also watch video replays of the plays (ie formations from an upperdeck view).
This would be very useful.
However, the problem is that the NFL has rules regarding recording video and sharing it in game time with teams.
For instance, many times after a QB finishes a series, someone hands him a sheaf of papers
to review on the bench. These are photographs of the plays (his and his opponent's formations) which
he studies to see what went right or wrong. It would be much simpler and effective for him (or a coach), remote in hand, to watch a video.
The reason he can't do this is because it is not allowed.
So it would seem that video functions on tablets would need to be disabled during the game.
I think this would mean that the NFL would need to audit and approve the tablets if they were to
be used in games.
If they were used merely to study the plays leading up to a game, then it'd probably be ok.
This would be a major shift in NFL policy if this is allowed. Speaking as a former software developer for an NFL team, the NFL is very *very* strict about what coaches can use on the sideline. While coaches and coordinators in the booths are allowed significantly more freedom, the coaches on the field have thus far been limited to paper printouts. There was some effort a few years ago for the NFL to move to a custom device for viewing sideline photos of the game (developed in coordination with Motorola to go along with the phone carts that they developed for the NFL a couple of years ago), but I'm not certain if that device took off. However, if they were to open the coaches to using an iPad, that would be a HUGE change in policy. The sideline viewer mentioned above was a custom device that could, by design, only view the still photos received from the sideline cameras. No video or game analysis applications. However, with an iPad, the technical options are limitless. The NFL already has individuals that sit in the press box of every game and enter play information into laptops that are connected via VPN back to the NFL offices in New York, and this play data is sent down with the video to the teams the following week. However, there would be no technical reason that this play information couldn't be captured live and entered into one of the game analysis packages out there (a couple of teams develop their own in-house packages--we were one of those teams--both all of the others use one of two packages: XOS or DVSport), and, assuming that that package has an iPad-compatible version, allowing the coaches to view play breakdown and video live on the field. I'm not sure that such information would be helpful, but the very fact that the technical limitations against it might be removed is a very, very big deal.
Or you can get a device that will have a swappable battery with a much better trade off then a booster or second device. And as mentioned, not everything can be on a server all the time, it may only be out of sync by a few hours but it would still be out of sync. Not so coincidentally such applications would usually be served better with a second battery than even more crap to lug around.
Analogies don't equal equalities, they are merely somewhat analogous.
Those "few hours" are the extra you get from not having to carry around a spare battery - your original battery is considerably bigger. If you need to be in a situation where you need more power than the battery can give you, you have something that extends it. In a situation where you have a removable battery and you need longer life, you need to carry a spare - there's no real difference one way or the other. The main benefit of the built in battery is that you don't need to accommodate all the various bits to make it accessible - a door, a battery bay, a connector, and the physical conformation of the internal parts of the rest of the device to make it externally accessible. With a built in, you remove all of that and just fill any empty space you have in the device with the battery, wherever it will fit - the battery doesn't even have to be a uniform shape. The downside is that it is harder to repair or replace, and if the battery runs down and you are away from a power source you are stuck. Consider though - how many people using tablets and cellphones routinely carry around a spare battery with them, even if the model they have contains a removable one?
There are tradeoffs to both methods, but the security of data (in terms of ability to access or potential for data loss between backups) is not one of them. You are just looking for ways to make built-in batteries look bad beyond all the usual talking points.