14 DAY TRIAL // American cable and satellite television channel CNN has recently struck a deal with Microsoft to feature the latter’s Surface Pro 3 on the network’s news show to spur sales of the hybrid computers that double as laptop and tablet.
The only problem was that CNN’s not-so-inspired camera crew accidentally recorded one of the anchors using an iPad tucked behind the sprawled-out Surface tablets, which immediately drew the media’s attention.
More than one way to look at it
From our vantage point, this is hardly a piece of evidence that someone or other prefers iPad over Surface Pro. It’s like catching someone at a dinner table eating just bread, when there’s caviar and stuffed pig in every plate, including theirs. Just because they’re not eating that right then, it doesn’t mean they haven’t or that they won’t during the course of the entire evening.
Same with the Surface Pro 3. Though we have to admit it’s pretty embarrassing even if our theory is correct.
Even if the commentators do prefer the iPad, the problem doesn’t lie with Microsoft. It lies with CNN. First order of business when those Surface Pros arrived on the CNN premises should have been to clear out the stage of any iDevices. It’s product placement 101, you just don’t overlook it. Then again, if the contract didn’t state anything of the sort, then it’s Microsoft’s fault for not including that clause.
Another way of seeing it would be to say that CNN anchors are OS-polyglots and don’t mind using the tablets for their distinct features, one at a time or simultaneously. Using the best of both worlds is something we applaud. However, we have to admit that this time around it does feel like those surface tablets are really there just for show.
In fact, looking at how the Microsoft devices have been placed shoulder to shoulder, one could assume CNN did it precisely to hide the iPad from the viewers. This is an exaggerated theory, of course, but we can’t rule out the possibility either.
Not the first time it’s happened
Sadly, this is not the first such blunder involving Microsoft’s Surface tablets. The Redmond giant has had to “coach” TV announcers to correctly identify Surface tablets when the camera switched over to someone using a tablet computer, because they would refer to them as “iPad-like tools.”
“It's true, we have coached up a select few,” a spokesperson said at the time. “That coaching will continue to ensure our partners are well equipped to discuss Surface when the camera pans to players using the device during games.”