Is it the shortcomings of the device, or the network? Big difference. The same would happen if they used iPads if it is indeed the network.
It's the device and the NFL. I have several friends who are NFL coaches. They hate the Surface Pro's. I know they weren't happy when the NFL forced them to stop using their iPad's during games. All teams still use iPad's for their playbooks.
Phil Rivers' fan has it exactly right. Computing power is vital to preparation: sorting and organizing the opponent's prior plays to identify tendencies. It's not as vital for gameday execution on the field (it is still being used behind the scenes and then relayed, of course). By gameday the binders are printed and they have to make these binders in case a tablet breaks or wifi goes out. Maintaining two systems is a lot of extra work and there just aren't a lot of circumstances where a field-tablet is going to be that much more beneficial to justify the redundancy. Plus, off camera, the teams each have iPads and some impressive computing clusters with team-proprietary stuff. If the surfaces aren't tying into the team-proprietary stuff then they're not justifying the hassle.
Schadenfreude. These types of problems couldn't happen to a nicer football team or tablet!
You have no clue about the Patriots, do you? Meaning, like actual facts?
Unless, of course, you happen to root for another football team (in which case, fear of the Patriots often translates to unexplained loathing, so that would be perfectly understandable).
Getting caught cheating several times usually invokes hate from the fans of other teams.
Schadenfreude. These types of problems couldn't happen to a nicer football team or tablet!
You have no clue about the Patriots, do you? Meaning, like actual facts?
Unless, of course, you happen to root for another football team (in which case, fear of the Patriots often translates to unexplained loathing, so that would be perfectly understandable).
Getting caught cheating several times usually invokes hate from the fans of other teams.
Except for spygate (which, btw, several teams engaged in), what exactly are you talking about, factually?
Schadenfreude. These types of problems couldn't happen to a nicer football team or tablet!
You have no clue about the Patriots, do you? Meaning, like actual facts?
Unless, of course, you happen to root for another football team (in which case, fear of the Patriots often translates to unexplained loathing, so that would be perfectly understandable).
Getting caught cheating several times usually invokes hate from the fans of other teams.
Except for spygate (which, btw, several teams engaged in), what exactly are you talking about, factually?
The deflating of the footballs which Tom Brady just finished serving a 4 game suspension for, and illegal use of the injured reserve list in which they lost a 3rd round draft pick over.
Microsoft just does not seem to have a good track record with critical-use applications like the NFL Surface tablets and their Sync system in Ford cars / trucks. I've rented Ford cars and trucks and over the past few years and twice had the head unit completely shut down and require me to dig into the manual and figure out how to reset it (because stopping and re-starting the car didn't fix the problem). It would be one thing if it were just the radio that went down, but the head unit incorporates so many other systems - it just shouldn't be something that can crash the way the Sync system did.
The NFL, like Ford, made a bad decision to work with Microsoft, driven by money given to them by Microsoft, not by what's best for the customer.
Schadenfreude. These types of problems couldn't happen to a nicer football team or tablet!
You have no clue about the Patriots, do you? Meaning, like actual facts?
Unless, of course, you happen to root for another football team (in which case, fear of the Patriots often translates to unexplained loathing, so that would be perfectly understandable).
Of course I root for another team. As for facts, if you can't see thst the Pats have made some ethically questionable choices then there is nothing I can say that will change that. I stick by my assertion that the Pats and the Surface deserve each other though!
The primary issue there was the price ($768 per device), and problems with lack of internet connectivity in schools. It had nothing do with iPad's performance or capabilities.
Yes, such mandates are stupid. Period.
Here is a line from the article,
"While Apple and Pearson promised a state-of-the-art technological solution for IT"
I don't see there any mention of price or internet connectivity. Looks like the iPad failed for this project.
Wi-Fi in large venues can be really unreliable. Remember when Steve was trying to demo some Wi-Fi feature on stage and it failed because there were something like 500 hot spots in the room. You get 50,000 fans in the seats, you are bound to have hundreds of people with the hot spot on their phone still active even though they aren't even using it. Some technologies just don't scale well and Wi-Fi might be one of them.
Sorry, but these POS's run Windows 10, and it is known for having SERIOUS problems with connectivity, especially wireless, after the multiple crap updates MS has put out for it. Not to mention the power management / sleep issues, BSoD's, app crashes, battery failures, the list goes on...
The Surface devices are straight-up SHIT, as is the new Windows, and I applaud the coach for coming out and saying it like it is. It's astonishing that MS has the cahoonas to say they stand by the "reliability" of these devices in the face of mounting criticism.
Did you know that the customer satisfaction for the Surface is as good as the iPad?
I don't know how many have been sold. What's your point? I hope you don't think that quantity = quality. If that's the case, then Lenovo PCs/notebooks are close to 3x times better than Macs, based in the latest sales numbers.
This has very little to do with Belichick liking or hating the Surface and everything to do with a well planned "F U" to the league offices and The Rodger for DelflateGate and suspending Brady for four games. Spending five plus minutes trashing a big league sponsor was a great way to stick it to The Shield.
Wi-Fi in large venues can be really unreliable. Remember when Steve was trying to demo some Wi-Fi feature on stage and it failed because there were something like 500 hot spots in the room. You get 50,000 fans in the seats, you are bound to have hundreds of people with the hot spot on their phone still active even though they aren't even using it. Some technologies just don't scale well and Wi-Fi might be one of them.
But the story said that MLB hadn't reported problems similar to those of the NFL. Baseball has plenty of fans in the stands using Wi-Fi as well.
The big difference is that the iPads are preloaded, and are completely offline during the game. WiFi isn't an issue if the iPads are offline
What is the problem with preloading Surfaces, then?
plovell said: The big difference is that the iPads are preloaded, and are completely offline during the game. WiFi isn't an issue if the iPads are offline
What is the problem with preloading Surfaces, then?
Two completely different games. In football, they have guys up in the booth taking photos of the lineup at scrimmage and how the play develops. Then they need to get those photos down to the sidelines ASAP for review by the QB and the coach. In baseball the players are in pretty much set locations so there is nothing to benefit from taking photos of it. They probably use the iPads for stats and how the opposing players pitch, bat, steal bases, etc. from a historical perspective.
Wi-Fi in large venues can be really unreliable. Remember when Steve was trying to demo some Wi-Fi feature on stage and it failed because there were something like 500 hot spots in the room. You get 50,000 fans in the seats, you are bound to have hundreds of people with the hot spot on their phone still active even though they aren't even using it. Some technologies just don't scale well and Wi-Fi might be one of them.
But the story said that MLB hadn't reported problems similar to those of the NFL. Baseball has plenty of fans in the stands using Wi-Fi as well.
The big difference is that the iPads are preloaded, and are completely offline during the game. WiFi isn't an issue if the iPads are offline
What is the problem with preloading Surfaces, then?
Tactics in baseball rely on past performance, and statistics of opposing players, whereas in football the previous play or set of plays are discussed, and adjustments are made accordingly.
Schadenfreude. These types of problems couldn't happen to a nicer football team or tablet!
You have no clue about the Patriots, do you? Meaning, like actual facts?
Unless, of course, you happen to root for another football team (in which case, fear of the Patriots often translates to unexplained loathing, so that would be perfectly understandable).
Getting caught cheating several times usually invokes hate from the fans of other teams.
Except for spygate (which, btw, several teams engaged in), what exactly are you talking about, factually?
The deflating of the footballs which Tom Brady just finished serving a 4 game suspension for, and illegal use of the injured reserve list in which they lost a 3rd round draft pick over.
Ah, when confirmation bias -- often in combination with laziness and ignorance -- kicks in, there's very little that can be done. But I can try and point you (and the couple of people that upvoted you) in the direction of facts. Even if you may be uninterested, others reading this might not be (there's way too much to link to, but this is a pretty good summary; and, it's not from a Boston/NE publication): http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/23/sports/football/nfl-ignores-ball-deflation-science-at-new-england-patriots-expense.html
Wi-Fi in large venues can be really unreliable. Remember when Steve was trying to demo some Wi-Fi feature on stage and it failed because there were something like 500 hot spots in the room. You get 50,000 fans in the seats, you are bound to have hundreds of people with the hot spot on their phone still active even though they aren't even using it. Some technologies just don't scale well and Wi-Fi might be one of them.
Sorry, but these POS's run Windows 10, and it is known for having SERIOUS problems with connectivity, especially wireless, after the multiple crap updates MS has put out for it. Not to mention the power management / sleep issues, BSoD's, app crashes, battery failures, the list goes on...
The Surface devices are straight-up SHIT, as is the new Windows, and I applaud the coach for coming out and saying it like it is. It's astonishing that MS has the cahoonas to say they stand by the "reliability" of these devices in the face of mounting criticism.
Did you know that the customer satisfaction for the Surface is as good as the iPad?
I don't know how many have been sold. What's your point? I hope you don't think that quantity = quality. If that's the case, then Lenovo PCs/notebooks are close to 3x times better than Macs, based in the latest sales numbers.
It's quite likely that it's selling very poorly because it's a gimmicky (and from what I've heard, prone to poor quality build) me-too product in an established market with an excellent incumbent. This is perhaps the reason that they have to resort to marketing gimmicks.
The primary issue there was the price ($768 per device), and problems with lack of internet connectivity in schools. It had nothing do with iPad's performance or capabilities.
Yes, such mandates are stupid. Period.
Here is a line from the article,
"While Apple and Pearson promised a state-of-the-art technological solution for IT"
I don't see there any mention of price or internet connectivity. Looks like the iPad failed for this project.
The primary issue there was the price ($768 per device), and problems with lack of internet connectivity in schools. It had nothing do with iPad's performance or capabilities.
Yes, such mandates are stupid. Period.
Here is a line from the article,
"While Apple and Pearson promised a state-of-the-art technological solution for IT"
I don't see there any mention of price or internet connectivity. Looks like the iPad failed for this project.
So you don't blame iPads for the failure in the LA School District. Isn't the same with Surface Pro and the Patriots, where the problems are related to connectivity and not the device? Both cases failed, not because were mandated, but because there are so many things than can go wrong in an implementation so large. BTW, I don't see how the Surface+NFL thing is a failure, when only one coach is the one having issues. Let's see if in the next weeks more coaches mention something. Until then, looks like the Surface is doing fine in the NFL games.
Wi-Fi in large venues can be really unreliable. Remember when Steve was trying to demo some Wi-Fi feature on stage and it failed because there were something like 500 hot spots in the room. You get 50,000 fans in the seats, you are bound to have hundreds of people with the hot spot on their phone still active even though they aren't even using it. Some technologies just don't scale well and Wi-Fi might be one of them.
Sorry, but these POS's run Windows 10, and it is known for having SERIOUS problems with connectivity, especially wireless, after the multiple crap updates MS has put out for it. Not to mention the power management / sleep issues, BSoD's, app crashes, battery failures, the list goes on...
The Surface devices are straight-up SHIT, as is the new Windows, and I applaud the coach for coming out and saying it like it is. It's astonishing that MS has the cahoonas to say they stand by the "reliability" of these devices in the face of mounting criticism.
Did you know that the customer satisfaction for the Surface is as good as the iPad?
I don't know how many have been sold. What's your point? I hope you don't think that quantity = quality. If that's the case, then Lenovo PCs/notebooks are close to 3x times better than Macs, based in the latest sales numbers.
It's quite likely that it's selling very poorly because it's a gimmicky (and from what I've heard, prone to poor quality build) me-too product in an established market with an excellent incumbent. This is perhaps the reason that they have to resort to marketing gimmicks.
Quantity doesn't mean quality. Mac's sell far less than Lenovo and Dell (Lenovo sells 3x the PC's in last quarter), and doesn't mean Apple devices are bad. On the opposite, Surface Pro sell less than iPad, but it doesn't mean they are bad. Again, customer satisfaction is even with iPads.
And what marketing gimmick are you talking about? Are they doing something wrong by using the NFL to promote the Surface?
In October 2014, Microsoft paid $400 million to the NFL for the exclusive rights to be the league's sole provider of tablets for use during the game, including Surface carts with integrated Wi-Fi for on-field use. However, nearly immediately, game play-by-play announcers called the devices "iPad-like tool" tablets on more than one occasion.
It's crazy they have to pay people this much to use their products and they still end up tossing them out. Microsoft really needs to rethink how it spends marketing dollars. Windows isn't designed properly as a touch OS. The people happy with Surfaces will be using them like laptops and not tablets. For all the resources that Microsoft has, it's unbelievable that they put out Windows in the state it's in. The UI is now split between some modern style and the old style and configuration settings are split between them too:
Having to configure advanced settings in tablet mode with UI elements that small and the sun bouncing off the screen would be a very frustrating experience.
Most of the screenshots show the NFL people using a single app:
It's just taking pictures from the stadium cameras for them to draw play strategies onto but if it loses the connection to the cameras, they can't get the images so getting printed frames from the feeds would be more reliable. They mentioned inconsistent performance too, this is just classic Windows where there are little glitches everywhere that they couldn't be bothered to fix:
In Windows 10, if you just open a file or have an app pointing to a file, Windows flags it as in use and won't allow you to move it but it won't tell you what's using it. You have to get a 3rd party process viewer to find what's using the file, close that down and then move it. With files, OS X even updates the references in the apps using the files when you move something.
Windows 10 also has an annoying habit of updating things all the time on its own leaving you staring at this stupid thing for ages (either that or locking up the OS):
They probably thought it would be a good idea to make a fancy design for the wait icon but it's so much more annoying because it never shows the progress. You can be waiting for 5 minutes or half an hour and it will finish one update with its own progress bar reaching 100% and you get ready to start using the computer again for it to start another update at 0% right after it and the spinner just keeps going. Windows has had a few improvements over the years but it's still constantly infuriating to use on a daily basis.
Schadenfreude. These types of problems couldn't happen to a nicer football team or tablet!
You have no clue about the Patriots, do you? Meaning, like actual facts?
Unless, of course, you happen to root for another football team (in which case, fear of the Patriots often translates to unexplained loathing, so that would be perfectly understandable).
Getting caught cheating several times usually invokes hate from the fans of other teams.
Except for spygate (which, btw, several teams engaged in), what exactly are you talking about, factually?
The deflating of the footballs which Tom Brady just finished serving a 4 game suspension for, and illegal use of the injured reserve list in which they lost a 3rd round draft pick over.
Ah, when confirmation bias -- often in combination with laziness and ignorance -- kicks in, there's very little that can be done. But I can try and point you (and the couple of people that upvoted you) in the direction of facts. Even if you may be uninterested, others reading this might not be (there's way too much to link to, but this is a pretty good summary; and, it's not from a Boston/NE publication): http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/23/sports/football/nfl-ignores-ball-deflation-science-at-new-england-patriots-expense.html
(PS: What's up with the bolded text?)
The bold text is the only way the cursor doesn't jump into the previous comment bubble and stay there.
They skirted the rules, whether it was beneficial or not doesn’t matter. It wasn't done for naught.
Comments
The NFL, like Ford, made a bad decision to work with Microsoft, driven by money given to them by Microsoft, not by what's best for the customer.
"While Apple and Pearson promised a state-of-the-art technological solution for IT"
I don't see there any mention of price or internet connectivity. Looks like the iPad failed for this project.
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/16/10/11/apple-mac-shipments-slide-13-in-q3-amid-pc-market-slowdown
(PS: What's up with the bolded text?)
It's quite likely that it's selling very poorly because it's a gimmicky (and from what I've heard, prone to poor quality build) me-too product in an established market with an excellent incumbent. This is perhaps the reason that they have to resort to marketing gimmicks.
There's a ton of articles written on it, not just the one you linked to. You can easily look those up. Here's the specific one to which I was referring: http://www.govtech.com/education/What-Went-Wrong-with-LA-Unifieds-iPad-Program.html
Quantity doesn't mean quality. Mac's sell far less than Lenovo and Dell (Lenovo sells 3x the PC's in last quarter), and doesn't mean Apple devices are bad. On the opposite, Surface Pro sell less than iPad, but it doesn't mean they are bad. Again, customer satisfaction is even with iPads.
And what marketing gimmick are you talking about? Are they doing something wrong by using the NFL to promote the Surface?
Having to configure advanced settings in tablet mode with UI elements that small and the sun bouncing off the screen would be a very frustrating experience.
Most of the screenshots show the NFL people using a single app:
It's just taking pictures from the stadium cameras for them to draw play strategies onto but if it loses the connection to the cameras, they can't get the images so getting printed frames from the feeds would be more reliable. They mentioned inconsistent performance too, this is just classic Windows where there are little glitches everywhere that they couldn't be bothered to fix:
In Windows 10, if you just open a file or have an app pointing to a file, Windows flags it as in use and won't allow you to move it but it won't tell you what's using it. You have to get a 3rd party process viewer to find what's using the file, close that down and then move it. With files, OS X even updates the references in the apps using the files when you move something.
Windows 10 also has an annoying habit of updating things all the time on its own leaving you staring at this stupid thing for ages (either that or locking up the OS):
They probably thought it would be a good idea to make a fancy design for the wait icon but it's so much more annoying because it never shows the progress. You can be waiting for 5 minutes or half an hour and it will finish one update with its own progress bar reaching 100% and you get ready to start using the computer again for it to start another update at 0% right after it and the spinner just keeps going. Windows has had a few improvements over the years but it's still constantly infuriating to use on a daily basis.
They skirted the rules, whether it was beneficial or not doesn’t matter. It wasn't done for naught.