The numbers are wrong, not because Surface was buggy or Excel was buggy. Because the data model that was created for the calculation was wrong. May be some Apple insider inside Microsoft campus.
The $500 is still in an actively editing cell,and therefore is not showing in the total. I learnt that back when I had a IIe. Surprised people making fun of this, just to show their own infamilarity with the program.
"Back when I had a lie?" LOL, you still have a lie my friend in your comment. If the $500 is still in an active editing cell, the value 500 would show in the function bar at the top of the screen but it doesn't. Obviously you are still an Excel noob.
excel doesn't calculate the sum until you press enter. the total sum is short by $500, so it's no coincidence the cell being edited is... $500
How many times do people need to be told that if it was a cell being edited and waiting for the user to hit enter, the value 500 would show in the function bar at the top of the screen. All the people here defending this advertising mistake don't even seem to know how Excel works.
Microsoft didn't put up billboards displaying any bugs, the advertising agency they employed made an error. While that is amusing, Apple releasing competing software that actually does have serious basic bugs isn't amusing.
The adage - 'people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones' - seems applicable.
All of them were in error. I haven't looked to see if the author corrected them.
My concern was that if the Numbers application generated the chart from the spreadsheet, it should have automatically picked up the names of the rows and applied them to the chart. I am pretty sure that is the way Excel works. That he could get parts of the chart not to agree with the spreadsheet suggests that Numbers does not generate the pie chart from the spreadsheet.
Or it could simply be that the user in the add has typed in the 500 in the highlighted cell and not pressed the Enter key yet. It's not there and not included in the sum until you press Enter. In Excel or Numbers.
Don't get me wrong, I hate Excel as much as anyone, but just try this at home.
Actually, if you look closely, the $500 for the CAR was just entered, so it hasn't calculated that amount into the total, yet. As soon as ENTER is pressed or the focus is moved it will recalculate to $9,500, correctly.
Or it could simply be that the user in the add has typed in the 500 in the highlighted cell and not pressed the Enter key yet. It's not there and not included in the sum until you press Enter. In Excel or Numbers.
Don't get me wrong, I hate Excel as much as anyone, but just try this at home.
Actually, in Excel, if the number has been typed into the cell, but the return or enter key has not been pressed, the number is aligned with the left side of the cell. It only moves to the right side of the cell, as on this billboard illustration, after the return or enter key has been pressed (in which case the cell below the entry is then selected). Thus, with the cell containing the 500 selected and the 500 aligned with the right side of the cell, the possibilities are: (1) the author just entered the number immediately above the 500 and had pressed enter or return; and (2) the 500 had previously been entered and the author randomly selected that cell. In either case, the application should have done the arithmetic if the sum function were entered in the total cell and all of the cells above were selected to be summed. Or course, the formula in the total cell might be something other than the sum function with all th proper cells selected for totaling. More likely, the spreadsheet was designed by an artist who had no idea how to use the sum function and instead did the arithmetic manually and then typed it into the total cell.
Actually, in Excel, if the number has been typed into the cell, but the return or enter key has not been pressed, the number is aligned with the left side of the cell.
This only happens the first time. Once data is in there it stays on the right, so it was 0 then they typed 500 but haven't pressed enter.
I think the superficial problem with the ad (no pun intended) is that some minor league ad agency just got caught dummying up a screen shot instead of using the real one. This happens all the time; those guys always think that a faked out screen shot is somehow "better" than the real one.
[Along similar lines, someone else recently got caught faking a steadycam feature in a cell phone but were outed because a momentary reflection in a window revealed that the video was actually being shot by a high-end camcorder and not the cell phone being advertised!]
However, the ad reveals a far more disturbing problem: Microsoft profoundly misunderstands what the "post-PC" era is all about. This ad inadvertently says so.
Here's why (as DED would say).
Let's suppose the ad agency had dummyed up the screen shot correctly and Daniel would have had to write something else this weekend. In that case, the ad would just be trying to say that the Surface was superior to other (unnamed) tablets since it can run Excel!!
You see, the fantasyland that Microsoft is living in says that tablets should be used to do the same jobs as desktops and laptops. Therefore, the most demanding task for a tablet is to....run Microsoft Office! That's the ultimate! Since Surface can run Excel but iPad can't, then that means that Surface must be the best!
I have the topic sentence for that hypothetical DED weekend essay: The Surface is the only tablet on the market that is *not* a post-PC device! it is a PC-device that has a tablet form factor!
That's where Microsoft's thinking is, why they lost so many millions on the Surface, and why Ballmer was shown the door.
Actually, in Excel, if the number has been typed into the cell, but the return or enter key has not been pressed, the number is aligned with the left side of the cell.
This only happens the first time. Once data is in there it stays on the right, so it was 0 then they typed 500 but haven't pressed enter.
Except that, as has been pointed out countless times, (1) if it had been entered but not confirmed the cell content bar would also contain the number "500" and (2) it would not already be in the pie chart, which it is.
I don't think I've ever seen so many new accounts sign up just to post incorrect rebuttals. And it's not even an article about Samsung.
It's a simple advertising agency mistake, and MS should have caught it before it was released. That's really all there is to say about it.
Ok ok I'm wrong, I didn't really study the chart. I guess it's just been pasted over new excel window for whatever reason and they redid the sums - that's all that makes sense.
This is true. The iWorks app is free only with a new iOS device purchase. But the iCloud web apps are free.
iCloud beta, who knows what they will do when it has been released. Also, you have to purchase an Apple device to get an iCloud account, so again, not free.
Comments
No more than the people claiming Apple is giving away iWorks for free, or the people who think that OS X is free
The $500 is still in an actively editing cell,and therefore is not showing in the total. I learnt that back when I had a IIe. Surprised people making fun of this, just to show their own infamilarity with the program.
"Back when I had a lie?" LOL, you still have a lie my friend in your comment. If the $500 is still in an active editing cell, the value 500 would show in the function bar at the top of the screen but it doesn't. Obviously you are still an Excel noob.
excel doesn't calculate the sum until you press enter. the total sum is short by $500, so it's no coincidence the cell being edited is... $500
How many times do people need to be told that if it was a cell being edited and waiting for the user to hit enter, the value 500 would show in the function bar at the top of the screen. All the people here defending this advertising mistake don't even seem to know how Excel works.
Stupid article. They have changed the car expenses from $0 to $500 but haven't clicked off the field so it hasn't updated.
wrong
No more than the people claiming Apple is giving away iWorks for free, or the people who think that OS X is free
This is true. The iWorks app is free only with a new iOS device purchase. But the iCloud web apps are free.
Microsoft didn't put up billboards displaying any bugs, the advertising agency they employed made an error. While that is amusing, Apple releasing competing software that actually does have serious basic bugs isn't amusing.
The adage - 'people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones' - seems applicable.
Windows ME, Vista, Windows 8
Responding to KennMSr:
All of them were in error. I haven't looked to see if the author corrected them.
My concern was that if the Numbers application generated the chart from the spreadsheet, it should have automatically picked up the names of the rows and applied them to the chart. I am pretty sure that is the way Excel works. That he could get parts of the chart not to agree with the spreadsheet suggests that Numbers does not generate the pie chart from the spreadsheet.
Don't get me wrong, I hate Excel as much as anyone, but just try this at home.
wrong
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4831681/right.xlsx
Try it with Excel 2013, you need to press enter or click elsewhere after entering the value. I didn't make a pretty graph, just used autosum.
Way to jump the gun and come up with a non story!
Or it could simply be that the user in the add has typed in the 500 in the highlighted cell and not pressed the Enter key yet. It's not there and not included in the sum until you press Enter. In Excel or Numbers.
Don't get me wrong, I hate Excel as much as anyone, but just try this at home.
Actually, in Excel, if the number has been typed into the cell, but the return or enter key has not been pressed, the number is aligned with the left side of the cell. It only moves to the right side of the cell, as on this billboard illustration, after the return or enter key has been pressed (in which case the cell below the entry is then selected). Thus, with the cell containing the 500 selected and the 500 aligned with the right side of the cell, the possibilities are: (1) the author just entered the number immediately above the 500 and had pressed enter or return; and (2) the 500 had previously been entered and the author randomly selected that cell. In either case, the application should have done the arithmetic if the sum function were entered in the total cell and all of the cells above were selected to be summed. Or course, the formula in the total cell might be something other than the sum function with all th proper cells selected for totaling. More likely, the spreadsheet was designed by an artist who had no idea how to use the sum function and instead did the arithmetic manually and then typed it into the total cell.
Actually, in Excel, if the number has been typed into the cell, but the return or enter key has not been pressed, the number is aligned with the left side of the cell.
This only happens the first time. Once data is in there it stays on the right, so it was 0 then they typed 500 but haven't pressed enter.
I would like a free copy of Office. Care to point me to where I can legally obtain one?
As someone mentioned the Office web is a free one.
[Along similar lines, someone else recently got caught faking a steadycam feature in a cell phone but were outed because a momentary reflection in a window revealed that the video was actually being shot by a high-end camcorder and not the cell phone being advertised!]
However, the ad reveals a far more disturbing problem: Microsoft profoundly misunderstands what the "post-PC" era is all about. This ad inadvertently says so.
Here's why (as DED would say).
Let's suppose the ad agency had dummyed up the screen shot correctly and Daniel would have had to write something else this weekend. In that case, the ad would just be trying to say that the Surface was superior to other (unnamed) tablets since it can run Excel!!
You see, the fantasyland that Microsoft is living in says that tablets should be used to do the same jobs as desktops and laptops. Therefore, the most demanding task for a tablet is to....run Microsoft Office! That's the ultimate! Since Surface can run Excel but iPad can't, then that means that Surface must be the best!
I have the topic sentence for that hypothetical DED weekend essay: The Surface is the only tablet on the market that is *not* a post-PC device! it is a PC-device that has a tablet form factor!
That's where Microsoft's thinking is, why they lost so many millions on the Surface, and why Ballmer was shown the door.
Actually, in Excel, if the number has been typed into the cell, but the return or enter key has not been pressed, the number is aligned with the left side of the cell.
This only happens the first time. Once data is in there it stays on the right, so it was 0 then they typed 500 but haven't pressed enter.
Except that, as has been pointed out countless times, (1) if it had been entered but not confirmed the cell content bar would also contain the number "500" and (2) it would not already be in the pie chart, which it is.
I don't think I've ever seen so many new accounts sign up just to post incorrect rebuttals. And it's not even an article about Samsung.
It's a simple advertising agency mistake, and MS should have caught it before it was released. That's really all there is to say about it.
Ok ok I'm wrong, I didn't really study the chart. I guess it's just been pasted over new excel window for whatever reason and they redid the sums - that's all that makes sense.
Thanks.
Yeah, you are right, and that is more like 'productivity' and ads should show unique/special features rather than plus minus.
iCloud beta, who knows what they will do when it has been released. Also, you have to purchase an Apple device to get an iCloud account, so again, not free.