NFL Commentators Still Calling Microsoft's Surface Tablets "iPads"

AmiMoJo writes: Back in 2013, Microsoft inked a $400 million deal with the NFL to promote the Surface. Unfortunately for Microsoft, commentators and even players couldn't help themselves from referring to the tablets as iPads. Last year, announcers referred to the Surface as an "iPad-like tablet,", while Chicago Bears quarterback called them "knockoff iPads". It happened on more than one occasion, and while you can bet that Microsoft and the NFL have been in talks with announcers and players about the goof, little progress is being made. This year, the problem persists.

Comments

Microsoft still can't win can they?

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe they just have bad karma now or something but even this post was put under http://apple.slashdot.org instead of http://microsoft.slashdot.org!

Re:Microsoft still can't win can they?

[TWX]

On the other hand, I wonder if apple is starting to get worried about losing a trademark if it becomes too genericized. The addition of a single letter to a common English word is not exactly a practice limited solely to Apple, esomething and isomething terms have been around for some time. I'm also a little surprised that Microsoft hasn't lost trademark for Office and for Word, though they seem to make a point of using Microsoft Word and Microsoft Office when referring to their own products, and productivity suite when referring to that class of software bundle without regard to originator.

Apple has now launched a product lacking the "i" with the Apple Watch, they might be worried about trademark, or they might be worried about the various negative implications of iWatch as a term.

Re:Microsoft still can't win can they?

[Anonymous Coward]

No, it becomes genericized when people, not the makers or stores, start calling all items of the type by the brand name of one.

Re:Microsoft still can't win can they?

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

Aspirin is a brand name jackass.

I prefer generic donkeys and mules over the overpriced brand name ones.

What is your position on brand name miniature red-head roosters?

The Surface should be easily distinguishable

[Anonymous Coward]

Really, nobody should be confusing the Surface with the iPad. There are many differences:

1) The Surface has a keyboard and touchpad
2) The Surface has real USB ports
3) The Surface runs Windows
4) You can play games on the Surface. There are no games for the iPad.
5) The Surface has a kickstand that enables the screen to stand partially upright.
6) The Surface is more secure than the iPad.
7) It is easy to use the Surface. The iPad is so complicated my grandma can't use it.

There really isn't any similarity, and it's really quite embarrassing that people can't tell the difference. For all the promos the NFL announcers have to read, you think they'd get used to calling the tablets used on the sidelines by their correct name, which is, of course, the Microsoft Surface.

Re:The Surface should be easily distinguishable

[mark-t]

Point 4 is entirely untrue.

On point 7, that your Grandma may find the iPad harder to use the Surface is anecdotal evidence for your proposition. It remains that the underlying argument that the Surface is easier to use than the iPad is entirely subjective.

I will not contest the other points, however.

But really, putting something that can be quite objectively shown to be false in your itemized list of differences really negatively impacts your overall argument. You could have left point 4 out and just listed six points and your argument would have been much stronger than how you presented it.

That's okay.

[buckfeta2014]

My mother still calls a PC tower a modem...

Re:That's okay.

[Dusthead Jr.]

My former boss used to refer to it as a hard drive and the CRT monitor was the computer. I upgraded it to a larger size and he asked if I had gotten a new computer. Most people I know seem to call any generic mp3 player an iPod. And before Android became a household name, every smartphone was an iPhone.

This problem really shouldn't exist.

[jtownatpunk.net]

The commentators are supposed to be professionals and plugging products is part of their profession. Do they fuck up the "Brought to you by Dodge: Take a stand against ordinary." plugs? No. And, if they did, they'd be getting yelled at during the next commercial break. Can you imagine if they said "Brought to you by the Toyota F-150, heartbeat of America." when the dodge logo popped up on the screen? (I just picked Dodge and their slogan out of thin air. I have no idea if Dodge advertises like that during NFL games but you get what I mean.) The tablets are a product and it's being advertised. Microsoft has paid a ton of money for this product placement and I find it hard to believe that their contract doesn't include assurances that their products will be correctly referenced a minimum number of times per game. And it probably has penalties for misidentification. Like calling their devices by the trademarked name of their biggest competitor. You don't need to be an expert on the product you're plugging to get the name right.

Re:This problem really shouldn't exist.

[Anonymous Coward]

Your last name is "The Mindless"...

Re:This problem really shouldn't exist.

[Anonymous Coward]

In other news, NFL professionals still calling Hand-egg game 'football', says Rest of World.

Re:This problem really shouldn't exist.

[thegarbz]

They're job ... is to announce the game, not sell product.

The Surface IS JUST A SHITTY IPAD KNOCK OFF

You're just an ignorant prick that has no clue what he's talking about

The irony hurts so very much.

Other brand names that Americans use ...

[Anonymous Coward]

It seems to be mostly an American thing to call things by brand or company names instead of using generic terms...
Jacuzzi - hot tub
Crock pot - pressure cooker
Chapstick - lip balm
Kleenex - tissue
Q-tips - cotton swabs
Rollerblades - roller skates
Scotch tape - adhesive tape
Sharpie - permanent marker
Realtor - real estate agent
Tupperware - plastic containers
Weed eater - string trimmer
Wite-out - correction fluid
Band-Aid - adhesive bandages
Dumpster - waste container
Xerox - photocopier
Post-it - sticky note
Plexiglas - acrylic glass
Styrofoam - polystyrene
etc etc etc....

Re:Other brand names that Americans use ...

[Zontar The Mindless]

A crock pot is not a pressure cooker. (Try "slow cooker".)

And my wife calls them Tupperware. She's from China, has never lived in an English-speaking country, and only made her first visit to the US about 4 years ago.

Here in Sweden, I hear the terms "rollerblade"; "Xerox", "Post-It", and "Plexiglass" used even in Swedish.

Rollerblades, BTW, are specifically *inline* skates, not any roller skates.

And nobody's had a need for White-Out in about 30 years; do they even still make that stuff?

Yep

[Sycraft-fu]

It is actually a bad thing, overall for Apple. The last thing they want is for every tablet to be an "iPad" because it then makes it much harder to market and differentiate their own products. While I'm sure MS isn't pleased, Apple is likely non to pleased either. Having your brand turned generic isn't something any company wants. Even if you still technically control the trademark, if it is a generic term in the mind of the ordinary person, you've lost.

Who the fuck can remember all those stupid names?

[Taco Cowboy]

No matter how good, how useful a product is, if the name is stupid, it won't be remember

Take toilet paper - what brand of toilet paper can you think of?

Take sport drinks - other than Gatorade, what are the other brands you can remember?

Ice tea ... can you pronounce 'loo-zee-ann'?

Microsoft Windows successfully toppled OS/2 because the 'OS/2' name was too fucking awkward

iPad, iPhone, iPod are popular not only because of their functionality - they have crispy clear sounding name

As for Microsoft Surface? Who the fuck can remember that?

Re:Who the fuck can remember all those stupid name

[davester666]

Are you talking about a tablet, the table, or the wall-mounted device?

Well my mum still calls a vacuum cleaner a hoover

[Chrisq]

Well my mum still calls a vacuum cleaner a hoover. That isn't worthy of a slashdot article either

Re:Who the fuck can remember all those stupid name

[bickerdyke]

Or on how much you care about being turned in an advertisment spewing sock puppet.

That's a funny thing,

[pecosdave]

because I've been calling the new iPad Pro the Apple Surface Tablet.

Re:Who the fuck can remember all those stupid name

[tompaulco]

I would bet that if the NFL had bought Surfaces intentionally with their own money they would remember what they are called. Maybe Microsoft shouldn't give people who have plenty of money free toys, and then teach them the value of a dollar instead.