Microsoft Surface ad fails to Excel at math, according to Apple's Numbers

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  • Reply 21 of 230
    muppetrymuppetry Posts: 3,331member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by CMoebius View Post



    I am as big an Apple fan as anyone, but there may be a simple explanation for the $500 discrepancy in the total.



    I noticed in the ad the cell with 500 is still highlighted. If this means that the user entered the 500 without committing the change (hitting enter), the value would not have been counted in the total. I couldn't see if there was an active cursor in the field, but if there was, that would be the clincher. If there wasn't, it could just mean that the software that made the screen shot did not include the cursor in it.



    Sorry to put a damper on the Microsoft bashing. They do a good enough job with their comical attempts at copying Apple.

     

    It looks like a mockup to me, because the cell is highlighted and contains a number, but the content bar is empty, which it wouldn't be - at least if it works like the desktop version. Why do they even do that, when it is so easy to use the real thing?

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  • Reply 22 of 230
    s.metcalfs.metcalf Posts: 1,011member
    It makes my head hurt that advertises make so much money when they arguably make no contribution to society, but scientists get paid so little...
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  • Reply 23 of 230
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by muppetry View Post

     

     

    It looks like a mockup to me, because the cell is highlighted and contains a number, but the content bar is empty, which it wouldn't be - at least if it works like the desktop version. Why do they even do that, when it is so easy to use the real thing?


    I sometimes wonder that when watching the movies. Whenever they show computer screenshots it often looks like they have dummied up an entire OS rather than just use a real screen grab. 

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  • Reply 24 of 230
    runbuhrunbuh Posts: 315member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Bhaskar Bhat View Post

     

    I cannot understand the requirement of an advertisement of MS Office! after all if the one shown in the ad is a productivity thing, then such can be easily accomplished by old calculators for that matter.




    An old calculator can handle editing multiple rows, edit text, and generate pie charts that can be emailed and shared?

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  • Reply 25 of 230
    Excel might fail to add numbers in an ad.

    But Apples Numbers 3 fails to add numbers in reality on your computer and your iPad (both versions have the same bug).

    Details and an example file are in this blog article: http://www.gerdcastan.de/en/content/numbers-3-cell-bug

    I love Microsoft bashing, too (for other reasons than Excel). But in this case...

    Gerd
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  • Reply 26 of 230

    Microsoft's next ad could be "Save more than 5% on your next vacation with Microsoft Surface" ;) 

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  • Reply 27 of 230
    Wow. This is worthy of an article? This is shameful. Let MS or Google and Apple fight it out accordingly but this is cheap. Office is better than anything Apple has EVER put out, this no one can argue. They're just using it as feature which is smart. The same way Apple uses their ecosystem to sell iStuff. The surface is actually very nice, I prefer the iPad of course but I have both. He surface is better at some things but that's life, no device is perfect. So what if the calculation is off? Would anyone in their right mind use numbers over excel? Never. It was maybe a typo, who knows?
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  • Reply 28 of 230
    This article is in bad taste. DED, are you undergoing a writer's block that you have to resort to such a twisted and distorted article?
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  • Reply 29 of 230

    And, unlike their disgusting and pathetic YouTube videos which Microsoft takes down seconds after failure (the “fly on the wall” series, the one where the Xbox One was caught displaying the Playstation 4 version of a game, etc.), this will stay up and wrong.

     



    Originally Posted by BigPapi View Post

    Office is better than anything Apple has EVER put out, this no one can argue.


     


    Hi, one post. Shut up and go away. We don’t like lies here, hence this article about an ad that lies.

     

    They're just using it as feature which is smart.


     

    Not when the feature is broken.

     

    The same way Apple uses their ecosystem to sell iStuff.


     

    Has Apple ever gotten arithmetic wrong on their ads?

     

    He surface is better at some things but that's life


     

    Crashing, getting viruses, overheating…

     

    no device is perfect.


     

    This is the standard Anti-Apple Brigade excuse for not even trying to be perfect.

     

    So what if the calculation is off?


     

    So you go bankrupt because it lets you overspend. Are you really suggesting a program who’s SOLE PURPOSE IT IS TO DO CALCULATIONS is usable if the calculations are off?

     

    Would anyone in their right mind use numbers over excel?


     

    Well, given that Numbers DOESN’T GET WRONG SIMPLE ARITHMETIC, yes.

     

    It was maybe a typo, who knows?


     

    So the software’s SELF-RUNNING ALGORITHMS FOR COMPUTING THE VALUES OF CELLS IN THE TABLE “made a typo”, did it? 

     

    Do you honestly expect us to accept your pathetic premise that someone is just using Excel to have all his numbers lined up in a row, pretty, and has done the calculations by hand on paper elsewhere?!

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  • Reply 30 of 230
    muppetrymuppetry Posts: 3,331member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BigPapi View Post



    Wow. This is worthy of an article? This is shameful. Let MS or Google and Apple fight it out accordingly but this is cheap. Office is better than anything Apple has EVER put out, this no one can argue. They're just using it as feature which is smart. The same way Apple uses their ecosystem to sell iStuff. You guys can't be such fanboys not to appreciate something else other than Apples stuff. The surface is actually very nice, I prefer the iPad of course but I have both. He surface is better at some things but that's life, no device is perfect. I know this is AI but have some balls to appreciate another product. So what if the calculation is off? Would anyone in their right mind use numbers over excel? Never. It was maybe a typo, who knows? It is idiotic to write an article about this. Shameful.

     

    You need to loosen up a little - he's just poking fun at MS, which is a long-standing and honorable tradition even amongst those of us who use their products all the time.  I would mention that "so what if the calculation is off" is a somewhat ironic comment when made in regard to a spreadsheet advertisement though.

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  • Reply 31 of 230
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    I think the real issue here is that someone is taking a vacation in Hawaii and has to make a SPREADSHEET.

    This is Microsoft's idea of "doing work".

    It would be if you were a travel agent preparing a budget for your client.

    The bigger question I have is, why are they advertising it as "not just a laptop" when it looks just like a laptop, and shows none of the reasons it's not. Shouldn't the ad read, "it's not just a tablet"?
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  • Reply 32 of 230
    Sure it's pointed out before, but "free (with a subscription)" isn't really all that free.

    But anyway, it's still puzzling (somewhat) why Microsoft hasn't swooped in with Office for iPad, especially with the numerous complaints from long-time users of iWork. Seems like a golden opportunity.
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  • Reply 33 of 230
    takeotakeo Posts: 447member
    Of course the reason it's off is that it's probably a mockup done by some print production artist in illustrator rather than an actual screenshot. Or it could be that it is actually a screenshot (you don't need much resolution for a billboard) and maybe they just missed a cell in the formula. But it's still funny.
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  • Reply 34 of 230
    Hmmm... Doesn't Excel recalculate when you finish editing a cell? And isn't the cell containing $500 highlighted for editing (& might it not have contained $0 prior to editing)? Poor art direction, but nothing wrong with the operation of the spreadsheet. But don't let that spoil your fun!
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  • Reply 35 of 230
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BigPapi View Post



    Wow. This is worthy of an article? This is shameful.

     

    What is shameful is people who feel compelled to sign up in order to whine about this accurate article. I find you to be an extremely suspicious character, and I do not trust your intentions.

     

    Microsoft can dish it out, but they can't take anything in return? Have you not seen the ads bashing Apple? Have you not seen Microsoft using SIRI's voice in their ads, to promote their failed Surface tablet? Are you blind? Have you been living under a rock? Do you receive a Microsoft paycheck?

     

    And yet, an accurate article comes along, pointing out an embarrassing flaw in Microsoft's recent ad, and that causes you to lash out at the article which points out that flaw? Truth be damned, nobody should dare speak about this! Are you part of the Gestapo?

     

    Do you not see the enormous irony in a spreadsheet program getting it's math wrong? What is your defect? Microsoft deserves all of the mocking that it's going to get for this. 

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  • Reply 36 of 230
    gerdc wrote: »
    Excel might fail to add numbers in an ad.

    But Apples Numbers 3 fails to add numbers in reality on your computer and your iPad (both versions have the same bug).

    Details and an example file are in this blog article: http://www.gerdcastan.de/en/content/numbers-3-cell-bug

    I love Microsoft bashing, too (for other reasons than Excel). But in this case...

    Gerd

    I see that you found the culprit, it being the German version of the formula. File a bug report :
    http://www.apple.com/feedback/numbers.html

    If you create a sparse image it will grow in size as needed; right now you have created a standard dmg file with a fixed size, being 40MB.

    1000
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  • Reply 37 of 230
    bigpapi wrote: »
    Wow. This is worthy of an article? This is shameful. Let MS or Google and Apple fight it out accordingly but this is cheap. Office is better than anything Apple has EVER put out, this no one can argue. They're just using it as feature which is smart. The same way Apple uses their ecosystem to sell iStuff. You guys can't be such fanboys not to appreciate something else other than Apples stuff. The surface is actually very nice, I prefer the iPad of course but I have both. He surface is better at some things but that's life, no device is perfect. I know this is AI but have some balls to appreciate another product. So what if the calculation is off? Would anyone in their right mind use numbers over excel? Never. It was maybe a typo, who knows? It is idiotic to write an article about this. Shameful.

    You forgot the /s
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  • Reply 38 of 230
    Originally Posted by bruceldavies View Post

    But don't let that spoil your fun!

     

    Don’t let the fact that this isn’t an excuse spoil yours, hit and run.

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  • Reply 39 of 230
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by DarkLite View Post

     

    Hold on a second, you mean sometimes the things displayed in adverts are a mockup / edited image of the actual product? I had no idea.

     

    Edit: I notice DED hasn't even bothered to check if the issue affects actual copies of Excel and seems to have treated the billboard as a functioning copy. 


    seriously? The whole jist of it- is that MS scoffed at iWork- but their ad for it shows excel computing incorrectly . Whether Excel works for the math in real life is irrelevant.

    Its funny....

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  • Reply 40 of 230
    muppetrymuppetry Posts: 3,331member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bruceldavies View Post



    Hmmm... Doesn't Excel recalculate when you finish editing a cell? And isn't the cell containing $500 highlighted for editing (& might it not have contained $0 prior to editing)? Poor art direction, but nothing wrong with the operation of the spreadsheet. But don't let that spoil your fun!

     

    There sure are a lot of people with absolutely no sense of humor or irony jumping to Microsoft's defense on this one. So you signed up just to make public that you don't get it at all?

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