“In among the larger-than-life humans on NFL sidelines this season, you’ll notice a slew of Microsoft’s Surface Pro 2 tablets,” Vlad Savov reports for The Verge. Microsoft committed to “spend $400 million on an exclusive advertising and equipment deal with the NFL.”
“The tablets are encased in chunky cyan protective cases and have been attracting the attention of the broadcast commentators when put to use,” Savov reports. “The only problem is that the announcers don’t seem to have been briefed on the name, leaving them to describe Microsoft’s slates as ‘iPad-like tools.'”
Read more in the full article here.
Back in May, Bryan Bishop reported for The Verge, “Coaches and players will have access to Surface tablets to aid in play calling and other in-game needs, an area that has been dominated by the iPad up until this point. Microsoft will be named ‘The Official Sideline Technology Sponsor of the NFL,’ with the Surface called out as ‘the official tablet’ of the league.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Microsoft is a silly, stupid, dysfunctional entity whose greatest (and, arguably, only real) success was an upside-down and backwards Apple knockoff (Mac OS) upon which they piggybacked a bloated office suite, a godawful web browser, and some mice. Everything else they touch that’s not related to their pretend Mac OS or forced onto their hapless customers via their Mac OS wannabe is an abject, laughingstock failure (Zune, Kin, Surface, etc.) and/or an endless money pit (Xbox, Windows Phone). To see these dummies blowing $400 million in order to basically promote Apple’s revolutionary iPad during NFL games is not at all unexpected, yet infinitely satisfying.
That dumbass kickstand is yet another ill-considered, misguided, corporate committee-driven “differentiation” squirted out of Microsoft’s back door unbidden onto the public.
Microsoft is staffed with stupid and/or lazy people. There’s no other explanation besides crippling narcissism – which is a very real possibility. Most people use iPads while lounging around. All Microsoft’s Surface “team” had to do was buy some real iPads and use them for a few weeks. Steve Jobs himself even demonstrated the iPad while reclining in a comfy leather chair, not sitting upright at a friggin’ desk. Microsoft was shown the way and, once again, they failed to properly follow Apple’s lead. By now, that’s just stupid and/or lazy.
Microsoft suffers from delusions of grandeur. They think they matter and that people will buy their pretend iPad over other pretend iPads because it’s from Microsoft. Microsoft does not matter. Microsoft no longer has the power to sell superfluous products. The world already has iPad. The thinking world finally woke up and moved on from Microsoft’s soul-sapping dreck. That clueless Microsoft haven’t figured this out years ago (Zune, Kin, how many total face-plants do they need?) is illustrative of the depths of their delusions.
As with Zune, Kin, and Surface, Microsoft is unnecessary in today’s world. Their rapidly retiring/expiring IT Doofus firewall is the only thing keeping them around today.
And that’s not going to last much longer, either.
[Attribution: CNET. Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Arline M.” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone says his Microsoft Surface tablet ‘didn’t work’ for portion of game – August 4, 2014
How Apple’s iPad is revolutionizing NFL playbooks for players and coaches – July 19, 2012
Miami Dolphins latest to replace huge paper playbooks with Apple iPads – June 24, 2012
Cincinnati Bengals go digital with iPad playbooks, join dozen other NFL teams – June 15, 2012
Denver Broncos NFL team transfers traditional playbooks to Apple iPads – April 23, 2012
NFL’s Tampa Bay Bucs give every player an Apple iPad 2 to hold playbook, video – August 25, 2011
NFL teams considering replacing playbooks with Apple iPads – February 4, 2011
So much for Microsoft, The Next Generation.
At first I thought how upset Microsoft must be that their surface is called “iPad-like” after spending all that money on sponsorship. But then I realized that $400 million is a pretty cheap price to pay to have their dopey Surface tablet elevated to the same status as an iPad. Just think about it. If I could buy a Mazda Miata and someone said they saw me in a Porsche-like car… just imagine how happy I would be!!
Hey, Miatas are great! They’re the best selling roadster ever.
It’s still a Mazada not a Porche.
Nor is it a Porsche.
Yeah, and given it’ll cost a month’s wages for the average person just to replace one tyre on a Porche, let alone four, and don’t get me started on insurance and fuel, whereas a Mazda Miata/MX-5 is not only very affordable for an average person, they’re remarkably reliable, handle beautifully, and last for years.
And don’t forget, a Porche is just a Volkswagen wearing a party frock.
In fact, a Miata is everything a Surface isn’t; reliable, fun to use, lasts forever…
Sounds like an iPad, actually.
Oops, sorry about mis-spelling Porsche, it’s pretty late over here.
No to the frock analogy, way off base.
Miatas are great, but too small for taller people.
Or guitars.
I guess this also means The Microsoft Surface also is the official tablet for gun-toting thugs and domestic violence offenders?
As well as the rapist and molly poppers apparently.
I’m guessing the NFL will use its most famous acronym for those surface disasters: Not For Long
Its hilarious watching the Fox NFL Pre Game, where each guy has an ugly surface on the desk. I KNOW one day, they’ll come back to camera and one of the guys will accidentally have his iPad or iPhone out in the open. Then the NFL will be canned.
No amount of marketing bribery is going to make real customers want to buy a crappy kludge product. Microsoft might as well provide funding to bring back the cancelled scifi police show “Almost Human,” but replace the sidekick android partner with “Cortana,” the sentient Surface tablet of the future. That would be more believable (and less costly) than these getting these NFL guys to pretend they are choosing a Surface over an iPad. They’re TV announcers, not actors… 🙂
The very idea of a tablet on the sidelines is a bit weird.And It Gets Where When You Consider That That Tablet Was a Surface.
It was even funnier to see the pre-game and post game dudes with their garish blue surface tablets.
Besides, I don’t know that that’s a kind of device that you want out on a bright sunny day for football. It looks like everyone who is using them was struggling. I noticed many coordinators reverting back to photographs on paper, which may be the best way to do the game.
Prior to this year I’ve seen iPads being used on the sidelines, maybe this deal forbids Apple stuff on the sidelines.
So when the Surface fails, they have no other choice but go to photographs.
They just let go 20,000 staff and now they splash out $400 million on a crappy marketing stunt? wtf
Would those 20,000 staff (at a cost of about $1 billion) have generated more than a billion dollars in revenue for the company? Now, will that $400 million campaign generate more than $400 million worth of sales? That’s what they are looking at.
The Guys on the halftime show had propped up surfaces in front of them which were entirely ignored. On one of the preseason games the announcer asked Tony Romo about his “iPad” and then went on to discuss how much he liked and used his iPad with his broadcast partner- saying “iPad” 11 more times…it was sweet!
@Microsoft will be named ‘The Official Sideline Technology Sponsor of the NFL,’ with the Surface called out as ‘the official tablet’ of the league.”
Can’t wait for that future MDN headline, “Microsoft Technology of the NFL Officially Sidelined”. Meanwhile, “the official tablet” will be a Tums.
~ Microsoft: The Official Sidelined Technology Sponsor ~
apple spends about $1 billion in total for marketing around the world.
that’s for iPhones, iPads, Macs, iPods, iTunes, Retail Stores, Software etc.
so just for Surface NFL Msft is spending near half of Apple’s total ad budget.
And anti apple trolls keep saying Apple makes ‘toys’ and only succeeds due to massive marketing…
Isn’t the Surface 3 the currently selling model? I’m guessing M¢ had a whole bunch of the 2 to get rid of to free up warehouse space.
They dont have a Surface 3 yet. Youre thinking of the Surface Pro 3. Their two current models are the Pro 3 and the Surface 2. I work at Best Buy and i feel bad each time someone buys one
“Microsoft will be named ‘The Official Sideline Technology Sponsor of the NFL,’ with the Surface called out as ‘the official tablet’ of the league.”
Sorry NFL, but I fing that more offensive then a Washington team named ‘Redskins’!!!!
i personally don’t find the name washington ‘redskins’ offensive at all. now, the cleveland ‘browns’ — that’s offensive! where are reverends (and i use the term loosely and not in the traditional sense) james and sharpton when you really need them?
“The Cleveland All-America Football Conference franchise conducted a fan contest in 1945 to name the team. The most popular submission was Browns in recognition of the team’s first coach and general manager Paul Brown.”
Not quite so much but thanks for playing!
Internet Explorer for the Mac was actually the first usable browser available. Who remembers Netscape Navigator and how god-awful SLOW it was! Oh man, it was painful! I was excited when IE came out and was actually usable.
Microsoft intentionally crippled Netscape to make IE seem ‘fast’ to unsuspecting rubes.
Yup. Netscape on my Mac was just fine.
Microsoft did a similar thing with the Rugby World Cup. I note that now back into the day to day league program everyone is back to using Macs and indeed they are increasingly being seen in the Premiership where computers hadn’t really been seen before.
Microsoft’s Surface Pro 2 tablets,” … Microsoft committed to “spend $400 million on an exclusive advertising and equipment deal with the NFL.”
The Microsoft Surface 3 has been shipping since Spring 2014!!! Will Microsoft be updating the NFL offering? Is the NFL accepting old technology? Perhaps the NFL will serve as a test site for MS development. Yes, the Surface can run the NFL software developed for Windows beyond WinXP.
we shouldn’t be too hard on the nfl, after all, they’re a non-profit company ($9,000,000,000.00 a year).
Why do they have those surface things propped up and don’t use them. They still have a stack of notes in front of them and I haven’t seen one of them using one yet. I also saw one of the big azz tables being used on ESPN earlier today. So much for marketing, because people will use what works.
The NFL is the biggest corporate welfare queen in these United States. They get the public to build them stadiums, get local governments to give them special revenue kickbacks on everything in the stadium, plaster everything with advertising, extort money from cable customers by not allowing us to opt out of their welfare scam, black out every game that does not sell out ands then tell us how they are a private business.
M$ and the NFL deserve each other.
What an odd article. First time ever reading a macworld article or whatever site this is on. Why would anyone care so passionately about the type of tablet being used? I’m very confused.
‘The Official Sideline Technology Sponsor of the NFL.’
That’s very appropriate.
I can’t think of a device more worthy of being sidelined.
Out of bounds!
Sideline tech pairs nicely with downstream beer!
Microsoft pays $400 million for product placement advertisement & Apple gets FREE iPAD advertisement on millions of TVs while watching NFL… “BOOM”
On a positive note, nfl-related news draws fewer Brits to comment.
@baldheadedjohn: that’s because we prefer to talk about Apple-related stuff, not some incomprehensible game played by people wearing enough body armour to choke a battalion.
=:~)
Draws fewer, doesn’t prevent.
The on-air announcers called the tablet the (I think) quarterback coach for the Cardinals an iPad. Not iPad like, but an iPad during tonights game.
I never thought I would defend Microsoft in anything they have done and while I am in agreement with most of what has been said here (pretend MacOS, etc.) I must say that they hity it out of the park with “the Microsoft Trackball Explorer (AKA Microsoft Internet Trackball Explorer).” I bought TWO of these (work and home) at BestBuy for around $150/each when they were released circa 1999. It was by far the best mouse I had ever used (or have since used)…. but maintenance was essential (typical Q-tips and alcohol), and only worked for a while before the units wore out and gave up the ghost. New ones appear to be on sale … for over $600.00!! Great product, R.I.P
Lol! – 400 million paying to advertise and Apple product :)))
Priceless (for Apple)
Wow, I guess it’s true that Mac users are the biggest haters of the top three and think everything Apple is best. Apple would probably be number one if it wasn’t for the “look at me and my I-whatever I’m better than you” attitude of a lot of its user base.
Apple makes damn good laptops/desktops and paved the way with iTunes and even tablets with the iPad but the iPhone is so vanilla. Droid definitely has the upper hand when it comes to phones and maybe even tablets now.
Microsoft may suck at devices like phones and maybe even tablets but not software. You can say what you want about Windows OS and Office but they’re still top selling software generating revenue hand over fist and even Linux has a distribution that mimics the Windows OS due to its popularity.
And then there’s browsers. IE, Google Chrome and Firefox. Yep no Safari and for good reason, the others are better. There are Apple users who still use Chrome or Firefox but I doubt there are many Windows users using Safari.
I won’t even get in to maps.
My point is everything Apple isn’t good just like everything Microsoft isn’t bad but you’d think Microsoft is over there selling Atari 2600’s according Mac users here.
MS sucks at software too. IE is an ugly browser with menus and tools that are organized terribly, just like their abomination “the ribbon” in Office. They had a great product back in the pre-ribbon days. Now, it’s like cheeseville. Just like MDN says in their takeaway, MS survives in business because IT doofuses don’t know anything else and MS software gives them job security.
The droid have the “upper hand” ? At what? Volume of cheap plastic low end smartphone sales at minimal profit. The higher end android products fail because the Android world is fragmented and will never be as good as Apple’s mobile world for HW-SW integration. What’s vanilla about the iPhone?
And you compare android tablets to the iPad? Just as this article is hinting, the iPad is now ubiquitous, like Kleenex is to the world of tissue paper. Anything that looks like an iPad is an iPad even if it really doesn’t provide the same experience. But it earned it’s place because it was and still is head and shoulders above all others.
And as for your comments about us having Apple products because we are snobs, or show offs, or whatever, that is just utter crap. You somehow think that some 40 million people per quarter buy Apple mobile products because of that? We buy them because they are the highest quality devices of their type, hold their value, work for years, have the best user experience, and in the end are a much better bargain than anything out there. Apple customer retention is among the highest in the world of any product for many reasons.
What you don’t understand is that to be cool, you have to first understand why Apple’s products are better. You don’t, and probably never will. Which actually makes you one of the uncool.
Thanks for that. I was trying to find a way to reply to the above without being insulting, because t’know, I never ever like to be insulting, and you did a fine job.
So you’re telling me the millions of IT “doofuses” are just dumb and lazy so they prefer Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer over Safari, Pages, Numbers, etc? Yeah ok. I agree, IE and the ribbon in Office are not visually appealing but millions of people still use it for functionality…not because it looks good.
I definitely don’t think 40 million people per quarter buy Apple mobile products just because they’re Apple snobs(maybe 20 million hehe jk). But if the quality of Apple products is so good and they last so long why else are the same users buying the latest and greatest Apple device every year one drops? Because they want to have the latest and greatest regardless of just having bought one a year ago. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Hell I buy the same Madden game every year hoping something will be different when in reality it’s not. Shiny new cover a tweak here or there and that’s it. And that is what it seems like the iPhone has been over the last few years, vanilla. Same size, a few feature tweaks, Siri with a crapload of colors to choose from. It’s about time they at least updated the screensize, good lord.
As for iPad but ubiquitous like Kleenex because it was and still is head and shoulders above all others, I guess it depends on what you consider “head and shoulders above all others” which is pretty much based on each person’s preference. On the other hand numbers don’t lie. Fragmented, cheap plastic and low end is still outselling Apple. Also, you think people call a tablet and iPad before knowing what it really is because the iPad is somehow better across the board, they say it because it’s convenient and the first thing that comes to mind because of popularity which is a huge testament to Apple’s marketing(which is top notch). Just because someone goes to a Best Buy, asks to see their iPads when they’re looking for a Surface or Droid tablet and walks out with either of those two anyway doesn’t mean Apple is better. The person still didn’t buy an iPad.
You completely missed the point but apparently that’s because you’re “cool” and I’m not which speaks to my original comment of the “I’m better than you” attitude haha. I at least give praise to Apple where praise is due and recognize their strengths as well as weaknesses. My point is Apple has its niche with consumers, Microsoft has its niche with businesses, Google has its niche with search/Chrome and Droid has its niche with consumers who want an Apple alternative so they can customize. They are all good and bad but necessary.
And while watching the Patriots game, my son saw a shot of Bill Belichek on the sideline with the tablet and said “Look, Coach Belichek is using an iPad.”
Without constantly pointing out it’s a Surface, the vast majority of viewers will assume it’s an iPad – turning this into an ad for Apple.
I just realised that every time I see tablet on TV, I assume it’s an iPad.
If it has a shape not consistent with the bare iPad, I assume it’s an iPad with some kind of protective cover.
Wow. Apple won this one quite a while ago.