Several years ago, Microsoft signed a deal with the NFL in which their Surface lineup of tablets would be used during games in which they can be used for reviewing plays. No doubt this was a good idea as in the past, we have seen how effective digital means of communication for sports has been, in which playbooks can be condensed into a file on the tablet.Unfortunately it seems that over the weekend, Microsoft’s Surface tablets failed midway during the AFC Championship game between the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots, where the tablets suddenly stopped working for the Patriots, which obviously was a huge inconvenience to the team.
According to CBS sideline report Evan Washburn, “On the last defensive possession the Patriots’ coaches did not have access to those tablets to show pictures to their players. NFL officials have been working at it. Some of those tablets are back in use, but not all of them. A lot of frustration that they didn’t have them on that last possession.”
Microsoft has since responded by saying that it was a network error that caused the outage, and that there was nothing wrong with their devices. “Our team on the field has confirmed the issue was not related to the tablets themselves but rather an issue with the network. We worked with our partners who manage the network to ensure the issue was resolved quickly.”
No doubt this could have happened to just about anyone and any device, but unfortunately it looks like it was Microsoft who managed to catch the bad press.