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It's funny. Laugh. Microsoft Apple

CNN Anchors Caught On Camera Using Microsoft Surface As an iPad Stand 236

Posted by samzenpus from the not-meant-to-be-seen dept.
MojoKid writes Since the release of its Surface Pro 3 tablet, Microsoft has pushed their new slate hard. It's as if the company wanted it to overwrite that part of our memory that recalls the Surface RT and its monumental losses. This past August, we saw the company make a big move by deploying a boatload of Surface Pro tablets to every team in the NFL, gratis. All season so far, coaches and even players have made use of them to plan their next course-of-action, and for the most part, they seemed to be well-received. Unlike some of the products Microsoft tries to get us to adopt, the Surface Pro 3 really is a solid tablet / convertible. Unfortunately, at least where the CNN political team is concerned, Microsoft hasn't won over a few anchors, like they have in NFL, when they were supplied with brand-new Surface Pros. In recent shots captured and tweeted about, a Surface Pro 3 can be seen acting as an "iPad stand," and quite an expensive one. As humorous as this is, it might not seem that interesting if it were just one correspondent who pulled that stunt. Let's be honest, some people just like their iPads. That wasn't the case, though. There were at least two commentators using an iPad on the same set, despite having the Surface right in front of them and seemingly hiding it behind Microsoft's darling Windows 8 slate.
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CNN Anchors Caught On Camera Using Microsoft Surface As an iPad Stand More

CNN Anchors Caught On Camera Using Microsoft Surface As an iPad Stand

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  • Gibson got it right... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Indiana Joe ( 715695 ) on Thursday November 06, 2014 @08:08AM (#48324509)
    ...the street does have its own uses for technology.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Jeff Flanagan ( 2981883 )
      CNN commentator labels iPad controversy 'false and idiotic', claims he was using both tablets

      http://www.windowscentral.com/... [windowscentral.com]

      • Re:Gibson got it right... (Score:5, Interesting)

        by jon3k ( 691256 ) on Thursday November 06, 2014 @11:11AM (#48325851)
        Because they have a paid advertising agreement with microsoft and microsoft is pissed and they're now in damage control mode

        • Because they have a paid advertising agreement with microsoft and microsoft is pissed and they're now in damage control mode

          Yup. I was particularly amused that their giant touch screen had 2 prominent Microsoft logos - one on the bezel of the screen and one on the giant stand it was on.
          CNN has an advertising deal with MS to prominently display and use their products. That's fine - their giant touch screen works, the Surface is a great device, and they're actually using these things in ways that make sense. It's far better product placement than the fucking shit MS and Ford shove into sitcoms.

          The problem comes about when you l

          • Re:Gibson got it right... (Score:5, Insightful)

            by xevioso ( 598654 ) on Thursday November 06, 2014 @12:57PM (#48326897)

            If you have anchors using items with prominent logos, you aren't doing the news, you are doing advertising. Get out of the news business and become an advertiser. I go to watch the news to find out whats going on in the world, not to find out whats going on in the world while being subjected to branding. That's called shilling, and people wonder why the media is trusted less these days.

            • If you have anchors using items with prominent logos, you aren't doing the news, you are doing advertising. Get out of the news business and become an advertiser. I go to watch the news to find out whats going on in the world, not to find out whats going on in the world while being subjected to branding. That's called shilling, and people wonder why the media is trusted less these days.

              You're basically asking CNN to go off the air. I'd love it, too, but I know it's not going to happen.

            • That's called shilling, and people wonder why the media is trusted less these days.

              Some of us might argue that CNN got out of the news business after the first Gulf War.

              They've spent a very large amount of time being a completely partisan agency, shilling for certain positions, and being uncritical cheerleaders of bad government policy. To the point that they made sure any body they had as a guest giving the "counter point" was the least credible person they could find, and that they were presented as such

            • Comment removed based on user account deletion

          • I rather think the lesson should be that you need to give your employees the tools they need for their work (or the ones they work with best) - which for some reason for these channel employees were not the surfaces.

      • Dual Use (Score:5, Funny)

        by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) on Thursday November 06, 2014 @12:09PM (#48326423)

        claims he was using both tablets

        Of course he didn't just use it to hold up an iPad!

        Later on he put down the stand and put a cup of coffee on it too. Totally no rings on the table.

    • "The Surface Pro is a stable platform" (Score:5, Funny)

      by tlambert ( 566799 ) on Thursday November 06, 2014 @12:03PM (#48326355)

      ...the street does have its own uses for technology.

      "The Surface Pro is a stable platform on which I rest my iPad"

  • What's Their Usual Workflow? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 06, 2014 @08:18AM (#48324549)

    If someone is used to finding information to do their job on one device (iPad), it can really obstruct their workflow to insist that they find their info on a completely different device (Surface) with a substantial learning curve and different apps, especially when under the extra pressure of being on camera. It's kind of like putting a NASCAR driver in a completely different car than he expects on race day with no warning.

    • Re:What's Their Usual Workflow? (Score:5, Funny)

      by MouseR ( 3264 ) on Thursday November 06, 2014 @09:07AM (#48324867) Homepage

      Or ask said Nascar driver to make a right turn.

    • Users overestimate the difficulty of working on an unaccustomed platform and have a powerful tendency to stay with the type of computer they "learned on." Apple once understood this, and gained a powerful sales advantage by giving away their computers to primary and secondary schools. The end of that policy led to such a large drop in sales that the company almost went under in the Nineties.

    • What is important is defining a FUNCTION you want, implementing it on the hardware you have and then providing a bridge for your users to cross over to the new method of facilitating the function. If your method is sound, your users will adapt, or they are not good users and you should replace them. EVERYONE is a user now, there is no excuse for not being able to adapt to new methods.

  • Hey, MS, give them to people who will use them! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by chrish ( 4714 ) on Thursday November 06, 2014 @08:19AM (#48324553) Homepage

    I'd happily give a Surface Pro 3 a try if you want to send one my way.

    I was considering buying a Surface (some previous-gen ones were on sale for a reasonable price), but was driven away by the extra $$$ for the keyboard/case and the lack of decent apps in the Windows 8 store... there's a whole lot of crap there, and not a lot of things I'd like to use.

    • With the Surface Pro, you don't have to worry about apps, because you can run full windows programs. You aren't just limited to what can run in the app store. You could even run a VM with Linux on it if you wanted. Run a web server, a database, Photoshop, or Solidworks. You can completely ignore the Windows App store if you want to. Personally I think it is a mistake asking extra for the keyboard though. They should make it included, and maybe add $50-$70 to accomodate the price of the keyboard. But add

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by 0123456 ( 636235 )

        Yeah, because I totally want to be creating Excel spreadsheets on a tablet.

        Being able to run Windows apps is irrelevant if they can't be used effectively without a keyboard and mouse.

        Besides which, you can buy an entire Android tablet for less than the cost of the keyboard alone.

        • If what you want is an Android tablet, then go ahead and buy one. A Surface Pro isn't really comparable to an Android Table. The Surface Pro has an Intel Core (i3,15,i7) processor and is a full Windows Machine, and has a 12 inch screen. Just because it has a touch screen doesn't mean you should compare it to a $100 Android tablet in terms of price. It does so much more than an Android Tablet. If an Android tablet fulfills all your needs, then you should buy one because they are cheap. Or wait until the

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by 0123456 ( 636235 )

            And you completely ignore my point.

            The number of people who want to run Windows apps on a tablet is roughly the same as the number of people who wanted to run Windows apps on previous generations of Windows tablets for the last decade or more. That is, hardly any, because they're not designed for it.

          • and has a 12 inch screen.

            To be fair my Galaxy Note Pro is a 12.2 inch screen. I like it, I can handwrite with it and it does what I need but I would be lying if I said I wasn't interested in the Surface Pro 3 but given the outrageous price tag and with Windows 10 so close I think I'm going to hold off until Windows 10 gets closer to release to see what Microsoft does in respect to the Surface to see if the existing Surfaces get a Windows 10 upgrade or if there will be a Surface 4 Pro (Osborne effect anyone? [wikipedia.org]).

            The main attraction for

    • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

      by Lumpy ( 12016 )

      Yup. I've been driven away because the price is simply outrageous. and at that price point, a non replaceable battery makes it even more of a "not gonna buy it".

      $600 and a non replaceable battery that will last 3 years is far more acceptable than $1400 and a non replaceable battery.

      Microsoft needs to NOT chase the "thinner is better" at their pricepoint. they can easily make the battery replaceable and only make the device an extra 2mm thicker.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Guspaz ( 556486 )

      I'd be happy to give the Surface Pro 3 a try, but it isn't a replacement for my tablet, it's a replacement for my notebook. It's an ultrabook without a built-in keyboard, the evolution of Microsoft's TabletPC. And there's nothing wrong with that, I've heard good things about the product... but as a notebook, not a tablet.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Dewser ( 853519 )

      My wife decided to try out a Pro 2 last year and it just lacked a lot. The Pro 3s have been getting much better reviews and I would say the hardware is certainly much nicer. But like many of you have commented on... The price is still a big negative for me. Sure their intro level 65GB i3 Surface Pro 3 is 799, but that is all you get. That does not even include their crappy keyboard/cover. For the Pro/RT/Pro 2s you had 2 options of keyboards, the Type Cover and Touch Cover. The Touch was the crappy no

    • It's an ultrabook with no (default) keyboard. Despite being a long-time MS-hater, given my current needs the Surface Pro 2 is an excellent device. It's the only "tablet" I've ever succeeded in traveling with without regret. I've tried that with multiple Android tablets, and the one-window (or even two on Samsung) format + non-standard-keyed bluetooth keyboards always ended up causing problems.
      • Oh, and I need a tablet with an active stylus, so that's a big part of what drew me to the Surface line. I tried the Note 10.1 and the Note 10.1 2014 and wasn't happy. S-Note on those devices is a joke. OneNote is a really well-done serious note-taking application.

  • Microsoft can't win (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 06, 2014 @08:25AM (#48324581)

    They put full Windows OS in their tablet, it's not as easy to use as an iPad.

    They put a tablet OS in their tablet, it doesn't have full Windows functionality.

    • They put full Windows OS in their tablet, it's not as easy to use as an iPad.

      They put a tablet OS in their tablet, it doesn't have full Windows functionality.

      You could say the same about the OS X/iOS and Linux-Desktop/Android combinations. Put a desktop OS in a tablet and it's a bitch to use, put a tablet OS in a tablet and you can't do half the things you could do on a laptop and a significant portion of what you can do on both platforms is more clumsy and time consuming to accomplish on the tablet. Which is also why I've bought a phablet left my iPad at home andy only use it for reading, watching videos and playing games and drag my laptop with me to do real w

    • The RT devices had no killer app. Each device needs something to set it apart. The killer app they tried to sell was a crippled version of Microsoft Office, which didn't work though the tile interface. Still too desktop oriented for a touch oriented device. Then they came out with Office for iPad, which is fully configured for touch. Why don't they port that to Windows RT? They may be able to get somewhere.

  • Rebrand old Windows RT devices as iPod Stands (Score:5, Funny)

    by jfdavis668 ( 1414919 ) on Thursday November 06, 2014 @08:25AM (#48324583)
    That is one way that Microsoft can make some money from them. As seen on CNN...

  • Yesbut does it run Linux (Score:4, Interesting)

    by serviscope_minor ( 664417 ) on Thursday November 06, 2014 @08:28AM (#48324591) Journal

    Yesbut does it run Linux.

    That's not a glib comment. I mean it. In the thin, light (and good performance), the Surface Pro looks like a really, really nice machine.

    It's as fast as the best Mac Air/Ultrabook. It's also the lightest in the category, falling under 1kg including the keyboard (I think even giving my venerable eee 900 a run for it's money). Not sure if the keyboard is good enough though. Other nice thing is it has a stylus. I don't really care for touch screens on a laptop at all (completely useless as far as I care). A stylus on the other hand makes a world of different when you bring out the GIMP (or inkscape). This is something I do actually do from time to time.

    Can't stand Windows, as it happens (or OSX), so the question for me is whether it runs Linux. If it does, it will probably be my next laptop.

    Funny thing, the only thing I've ever liked about Micros~1 (see I didn't go for M$) is the hardware. I used their keyboards and mice for years.

    • The big problem with today's mobile devices, is that they are so locked down that it is nearly impossible (Sure it can be done, but it is tough) to install a new OS on it, or worse have backup media to restore it back to factory condition if you happened to prefer Windows over Linux for tablet usage.
      Unlike a PC where you plug in a USB Stick or a CD/DVD if you sill have one of those and when it is booting you can hit Esc, F1, F2, Del.... Whatever to bring you into the BIOS and say boot from this drive instea

      • Mostly, but the SP3 is a PC in a fancy box. It even has a USB port. Only one which is a bummer (my eee has 3 and the Zenbook 11 inch, sadly no longer updated) has 2.

        As for perferring windows: that ain't gonna happen :) Especially as I want it as a light laptop rather than a tablet.I have a bad back so those extra 2-300 grams matter.

      • There are some issues with wifi drivers on the various surface pro models, but if you turn off secure boot it should boot and install. The latest kernels have pretty good support.
    • I hear that people have run Linux on it, but that Linux kind of sucks on it as it isn't set up to use the touch screen very well. So you're paying a lot of extra money for something that has a digitizer which you can't really use to it's full potential. Also, I'm not sure how easily it can be fixed, but due to the high resolution of the screen, all the controls and icons show up super small, which would make it difficult to use.

      • I don't have a problem running Linux on tablet. What WM are you using?

      • It comes with a keyboard and trackpad (optional). I'd certainly get that since I want it as a laptop not a tablet. I've tried a touchscreen on laptops before and found it distinctly meh. Except it also has a proper stylus digitiser. I had one of those once, on an HP-Compaq tablet (fuck you Apple and your featureless slab with rounded corners) and even when that thing was current X and associated things like the GIMP supported the digitiser wit hpressure sensitivity and everything.

        Apart from the GIMP and Ink

  • And they say.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 06, 2014 @08:44AM (#48324669)

    Microsoft doesn't support Apple products..

  • The surface pro looks like it'd be a halfway decent little machine once you get done wiping windows and installed Ubuntu on it. And Ubunutu looks like it'd be a halfway decent OS once you got done wiping Unity and install Enlightenment on it. I've been keeping an eye out for a possible replacement for an aging 17" powerbook, which was also a pretty decent machine once you got done wiping OSX and installed Ubuntu on it. I'd mostly be previewing videos from a GoPro, processing them minimally with Kdenlive, an

    • This baffles me... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by TheBilgeRat ( 1629569 ) on Thursday November 06, 2014 @10:34AM (#48325575)

      Off topic: I cannot imagine for one second that Ubuntu through whatever hack is required to run natively on a macbook is a better user experience than OSX itself. I get a lot of the legitimate mac bashing that goes on (expensive hardware, elitist culture, etc etc) but the OSX gripes baffle me.

      I'm typing this on an early 2009 macbook my alma mater handed me freshman year. It started with Leopard and is now running Yosemite. It has a unix shell, it has vim, it has a compile toolchain (clang via xcode and gcc via homebrew), it has git...it even has x11. OSX is unix, and a darn good one. Not only that it came preloaded to edit your gnar vids from your snowboard go pro.

      Back on topic, the Surface Pro 3 is a great little machine. Got one for my daughter for her graduation present, as she didn't want to learn mac or droid and wanted something to replace her aging laptop. She takes notes with the pen in her own handwriting. The keyboard/cover/thing is actually a decent keyboard - the trackpad on it is kind of meh, however. I just wish the price points were a little lower, but that's just cos I'm a cheapskate.

      • Re:This baffles me... (Score:5, Informative)

        by bazmonkey ( 555276 ) on Thursday November 06, 2014 @11:32AM (#48326023)
        I agree entirely. For me it was the power management: native Linux just doesn't come close to OS X's performance. We're talking a nearly 50% hit.

        I enjoy OS X just fine, but between work and tinkering, I still need to be on Linux quite a bit. I have found a Linux VM inside OS X to be the most pleasant Linux experience on a Mac I've ever had. Free of driver hassle, OS X goodies are just a swipe away, and I still see much of the battery life that drew me to a Macbook in the first place.

        Assuming the Surface Pro 3 could handle the VM (I have no idea), I would be all over that if I was in the market again.

  • It's real easy... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by tibit ( 1762298 ) on Thursday November 06, 2014 @09:42AM (#48325165)

    You can't make people use a device by edict. Just because a sports team, a league, or a broadcaster has signed some contracts, it doesn't magically make their users productive on another device. Microsoft dropped the ball by not providing decent applications for their own platform themselves. They supposedly know how to write software, yet they steadfastly refuse to write apps for their mobile platforms that are good enough to make people switch. All it'd take is good apps, nothing more, nothing less.

  • ... or NFL coaches for that matter, are who we look to for good judgment in computing.
  • The people ITT comparing the Surface Pro 3 to an iPad have got it completely wrong. The Surface competes against the Air, as a lightweight, full blown computer. The fact that it can detatch its keyboard and work with touch-only is an extra, but it is not how Surface owners spend the majority of their time.

  • Realistically... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Lendrick ( 314723 )

    The anchors in question have iPads and are comfortable using them. Microsoft almost certainly paid CNN to have all their anchors use Surface tablets on air, and the anchors probably aren't particularly thrilled that they have to ditch the platform they're comfortable with. I'm sure that now that this (admittedly hilarious) picture has circulated, it will be mandated that CNN anchors not have iPads anywhere near them while on the air.

  • The pics could easily be taken out of context though. Perhaps the Surface Pros were being used to display other data while they could also look up or get info from their iPads? Dual Screen work flow? I fail to see how this is some controversy.

  • ... maybe the iPads are their "personal" devices and the Surface are "work" devices?

    Nothing against people using either iPads, Surfaces or Nexus, but perhaps the Surfaces are "work assigned" gear, and being managed centrally via GPOs and AD (it is Windows afterall, so it is definitly possible), and maybe are locked down from "amusing sites" and games, and so the commentators have to use their iPads for their Facebook or Farmville fixes.

    Just a wild guess.

  • The NFL anchors are using them however the seem to have a problem remembering the name and keep defaulting back to calling it an "Ipad". At least on one occasion I heard someone call it an "Ipad like device" which is better I guess but not by much. Could be worse I suppose, I have people in my office who still refer to $SMARTPHONE as their 'Treo'.

  • It's all in the name (Score:5, Funny)

    by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) on Thursday November 06, 2014 @12:11PM (#48326437)

    If you don't want people putting other things over your product, don't name it Surface.

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