It was not long ago when Microsoft entered into a 5 year partnership with the NFL to use their Surface tablets on the sidelines. Soon after using the tablets, announcers were referring to the Surface as an iPad, or an “iPad like device” — this did not go over well with the folks at Redmond. Now, Microsoft is working to coach the announcers to prevent these mistakes.
Identifying the Surface on the sidelines has been improving with fewer mistakes. Now the challenge seems to be getting all the coaches to use the new tech; a few old school coaches prefer to use physical paper in a binder over any tablet. This little detail was picked up by an announcer who mentioned, “the coach is old school and doesn’t need a Surface, but instead preferred a 3-ring binder.”
Microsoft still has an uphill battle to gain brand recognition for their Surface brand. It is hard to tell if this deal with the NFL will help or hurt in the long run. The Surface is a unique device; it cannot be directly compared to an iPad or a traditional laptop, and hopefully Microsoft will find a way to communicate to consumers that this device is uniquely powerful for its portability. For now, the NFL will continue to use the Surface to look at photos on the sidelines, but maybe this isn’t the best showcase of the device.
