Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft Paid NFL $400 Million To Use Surface, But Announcers Call Them iPads
mpicpp sends this news from Business Insider:
Prior to the season, Microsoft and the NFL struck a 5-year, $400 million deal with one of the major components being that the Microsoft Surface would become "the official tablet of the NFL," with coaches and players using the Surface on the sidelines during games. But Microsoft and the league ran into a problem during week one of the season when at least two television announcers mistakenly referred to the tablets as iPads, giving a huge rival some unexpected exposure. The biggest blunder for the league came during the nationally televised Monday Night Football game when ESPN's Trent Dilfer joked about how long it took Cardinals assistant head coach Tom Moore to "learn how to use the iPad to scroll through the pictures." In a separate incident, Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints was spotted by Fox commentator John Lynch using a Surface on the sideline. Lynch remarked that Brees was "not watching movies on his iPad.
Do they wipe the screens of their ipads with kleenexes and q-tips, which they keep with the band-aids and aspirin next to a refrigerator full of cokes, in the room where they make xeroxes, next to the escalator?
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
Or maybe they just don't give a fuck whether it's an iPad, Surface or some kind of Android tablet.
You know, just like the rest of us...
One of the others is the cable news industry.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
no no, they're talking about the PADD.
Indeed, if they randomly distributed 2M surfaces for free throughout the population it would probably cost them about the same, and it would immediately create a demand for applications, it would get their product in front of consumers, etc. That would seem like a far better investment if you really wanted to blow this kind of cash.
I don't think that was a slashdot poster "rest of us" but a whole world "rest of us".
The U.S. Congress is not an industry, it's organized crime. I'm surprised the mafia hasn't sued them for unfair competition yet.
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
Yeah, I'm struggling to come up with a counter-example. Even medicine, where skill is of life or death importance, has professional quacks.
I guess you can't talk your way through farming?
NFL: One of the few industries where smooth talking idiots can rake in millions spewing bullshit.
You didn't forget about religion, politics, finance, auto sales, TV news, real estate, and insurance did you?
The NFL is small potatoes in the making money through BS industry.
Speak for yourself. If its someone elses kit, I really couldn't give a damn. Whatever works for yo.
Some folks love their surfaces. Some folks love their droids, and I kinda like my iPad. And we're all right, they are all the best device for whoever has it and thinks its right for them.
Excuse the Unicode crap in my posts. That's an apostrophe, and slashdot is busted.
I'm surprised it's not the other way around.
"Hey, it's a nice organised crime ring you have here. It would be a shame if someone... made some law equating it to the terrorist organisation. You know, we can't let the terrorists win, now, do we?"
Absence of proof != proof of absence.
Well honestly, IT is one nerd niche, amateur astronomy is another. I can believe it.
Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
Going along with the story...
I use a Surface Pro to connect to my Canon camera for macro shots. Super cool, full control of the camera, tethered shooting (straight to Surface) which is then automagically uploaded to SkyDrive. Full screen preview, editing on the Surface, etc.
I can do tons of work directly on the Surface, really works out nice.
Every day I swear that I will "Strangle the next person that calls this an iPad", but that hasn't happened yet. But each time someone does that, I take the time to point out the USB port, the fact that it can run full Photoshop, etc. etc.
iPads were a cruel joke played upon people who thought they were getting a device that could actually DO something. iPads are great for consumption, but once you move beyond NetFlix, they are not good for much.
No reason to lie.
USB port? Why is that important? I don't carry mice, keyboards or even thumbdrives. USB is the new Floppy. About the ONLY thing I use USB for these days is charging my peripherals. Wireless (Bluetooth, WI-FI) are much more important features to have, and quite honestly, are ubiquitous on devices. Heck properly configured Projector uses Ethernet for displaying, no Display Port dongle needed.
And having used an iPad and Surface, I always go back to my Android tablet, as it just gets everything right. Size is right, keyboard (Swype) is perfect for one handed fast typing. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional 4G for connectivity. Plenty of apps. iPad keyboard and the onscreen Surface keyboard is unusable for me after using Swype. And let me know when Surface speech to text is as good as Android, and is as usable across all applications like Android's.
I get a giggle out of Surface commercials when they tout "Photoshop" on a tablet. It is woefully underpowered for running Photoshop for anything more than basic tasks. Because I can tell you, nobody doing Photoshop work professionally, is going to go Surface, and casual users aren't gonna buy Photoshop to run on Surface.
I'd rather have a full Laptop for when I need it, AND an Android Tablet for when I need something bigger than my phone on the go. And for the cost of a fully setup Surface Pro, with all the bits needed to be a "real" computer, is more expensive than a Tablet and better laptop (with touch screen). Midrange Surface Pro 3 (no keyboard) is $999. Lenovo IdeaPad with similar specs is $729.99, A decent Android Tab is 200-250 depending on features. I think Surface is a product that is neither a Tablet (too big) nor a Laptop (too small).
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
and there all high
USB port? Why is that important? I don't carry mice, keyboards or even thumbdrives. USB is the new Floppy. About the ONLY thing I use USB for these days is charging my peripherals. Wireless (Bluetooth, WI-FI) are much more important features to have, and quite honestly, are ubiquitous on devices. Heck properly configured Projector uses Ethernet for displaying, no Display Port dongle needed.
Obviously you do not travel much or you take your laptop with you when you do. I only take my tablet and use it to back up my photos to USB sticks and watch video (Micro-SD cards) on the airplane. I agree that Bluetooth is better for connecting mice and keyboards. However, USB sticks are much more useful and universal for transferring data.
What's more telling is that every tablet vendor that does not have built-in USB ports have USB adapters. The only reason why they don't include a USB port (likely a 25 cent part) in their tablets is because they realize that they can make more money on selling the peripherals.
In the same theme, having a micro-HDMI or DisplayPort is a must have for me as well. I use it to hook up to TVs when on vacation to watch movies.
Nonsense. Football announcers always have clear and lucid insights into the game. Like these:
"We've got two physical teams here." - insider information from Tommy Jackson
"The Giants will have to play physical football to beat the Panthers." - Daryl Johnson pointing out that a psychological strategy will probably not work
"You have to do well on third downs." - Joe Buck demonstrating his mastery of the nuances of the game
"The team that plays the best defense is going to win this one." - Mike Ditka pointing out that the team which allows the fewest points will generally win
If it wasn't for people like that, I wouldn't realize that the team that scores the most points wins (I've also heard an announcer helpfully point that out during a game).
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black