14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft’s Surface and the Apple iPad might both compete for the same buyers, but it’s really not that difficult to set them apart and say which one is which.
And yet, some people really have a hard time telling which one is a Microsoft device and which one belongs to Apple, as NFL announcers have goofed once again on live television.
NBC’s Al Michaels mistakenly called the Microsoft Surface an “Apple iPad” during the NFL opening night, despite the fact that Microsoft currently has a $400 million partnership with the NFL. Yep, that’s right, Microsoft’s spending hundreds of million dollars on giving the Surface better exposure in the NFL, and yet, announcers forget the name of the tablet and call it an iPad.
Not the first time
And what’s more shocking is that this isn’t the first time such a thing has happened. Back in 2014, another NFL announcer referred to Microsoft’s Surface as an iPad, once again despite the almost half a billion-dollar deal that the software giant has with the NFL.
And because this is quite embarrassing, Microsoft tried to prevent this from happening last year by training NFL announcers so that, when they see a Surface, they can tell the difference between this device and Apple’s iPad.
“It’s true, we have coached up a select few. 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,” a Microsoft spokesperson said last year.
Obviously, this training led to no results, as the incident has happened again now that Microsoft’s getting ready to bring out the Surface Pro 4 and Apple has just presented what could be its most powerful rival - the iPad Pro.
It remains to be seen how Microsoft will react after this new incident, but we’re pretty sure someone’s not going to sleep very well at night.