How much values does Microsoft derive from paying 80 million/year to use these tablets.
Bill Belichick Throws in the Tablet
111–118 of 118 posts
Re: Bill Belichick Throws in the Tablet
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
Since the tablets are operating wirelessly it becomes very hard to test since the conditions before the game aren't the same as what occurs during the game. All the fans with their smartphones aren't there yet polluting the airwaves until the game starts (some don't make it in until after the game has already started). Also worth noting that some of the reporters were complaining at last week's game that the WiFi was…
> Since the tablets are operating wirelessly it becomes very hard to test since the conditions before the game aren't the same as what occurs during the game. All the fans with their smartphones aren't there yet polluting the airwaves until the game starts (some don't make it in until after the game has already started). By now, the IT team should know the gametime environment very well. It should no longer be a surp…
Knowing roughly what conditions to expect is not the same as actually testing equipment under those conditions. The team staff aren't trying to simulate or predict anything, they're trying to test the performance of the specific tablets they get, under game conditions.
On gameday there are thousands of different rf sources - deliberate and otherwise - in the stadium. You can't simulate that in as much detail as needed.
Re: Bill Belichick Throws in the Tablet
#113This speaks to a higher level perception about software. Bugs and crashes, however inconsistent, irreparably damage the sentiment about using a technology. Younger folks grew up in an age with these inconsistencies and are less perturbed by them. To older folks though, manual systems rarely "fail" during use. The bar of acceptance is a great deal higher when your reliability and availability are compared to pencil an…
> Long story short: quality is always important. as the median age of user rises, quality requirements increase dramatically. The alternative interpretation is that younger users will put up with lower quality even when it is not rational. Football isn't the most important thing in the world, but within it communication and data-gathering are mission-critical. If your processes are not reliable, that's a problem. You…
> The alternative interpretation
And that's even accepting the interpretation of this as old vs. young, which I would need more than 1 data point for.
Re: Bill Belichick Throws in the Tablet
#114Surface is getting all the heat in the article, but in the linked interview [1] he blames pretty much every part of the infrastructure other than the interface: > The other communication systems involve the press box to the coaches on the field, and then the coach on the field, the signal caller, or the coach-to-quarterback, coach-to-signal caller system. Those fail on a regular basis. > And again, there's a lot of e…
yes. I'd have liked to see what exactly failed that got him so riled up
Re: Bill Belichick Throws in the Tablet
#115> Microsoft entered into a long-term sponsorship partnership with the league in 2013. At the time, the N.F.L. had a list of demands for the equipment, including ruggedness, ease of use, size, effectiveness in extreme temperature and glare resistance. > In 2014, Belichick noted that the system had crashed, but seemed mostly cool with it. “I’d say that’s all kind of part of the game,” he said. > “I just can’t take it a…
Robust systems are achievable already. We need managers that understand quality takes proper planning, time, and deep, concentrated, uninterrupted work.
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Re: Bill Belichick Throws in the Tablet
#116Has anybody ever used a tablet or laptop outside? They're unreadable. This isn't a problem with surface, it's a problem with most electronic devices in the sunlight. There probably are other glitches but low tech film isn't going away anytime soon.
Re: Bill Belichick Throws in the Tablet
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is against the rules to watch video replays on the sidelines of the current game. These tablet solutions are simply showing photos, which is replacing the paper version of printing out photos. I can understand why a complicated tech solution that doesn't work reliably 100% of the time is essentially useless compared to a 100% reliable printed picture, solving the same use case.
Per Belichick, the NFL was experimenting with video on the sidelines.
Was that mentioned in this article? I don't see it. So his tablet use currently was for still photo viewing.
Here[0], we see that experimentation with video has only occurred during preseason games. So, in the games that actually matter, video is still currently outlawed, as it has been forever.
[0] http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2016/5/24/11715128/nfl-competiti...
Re: Bill Belichick Throws in the Tablet
#118Hahahahaha, Microsoft really screwed itself on this.
Ipads are more reliable and have a better gui, so why is the NFL using surface tablets? It's because Apple didn't need to push the ipad, but surface was really new and Microsoft really needed to promote it anyway possible, so it made a huge marketing push on the NFL, no doubt making it financially very attractive and promising all sorts of help.
What Microsoft seems to have not thought out is it would work out well for the coaches only if the entire network system worked flawlessly, or surface would get rejected by association, and so they should have given extensive help to make sure that happened. But they apparently didn't do that, the network screwed up endlessly, and sure enough, surface is being painted as no good.