Most will find this story funny but somewhere at Microsoft and its PR firms, someone is likely gnashing their teeth and being sent to remedial school for a math refresher. The additional irony that a Microsoft PR executive recently dismissed Apple’s Pages, Numbers and Keynote productivity software as “watered down imitation apps” will not be lost on many either. So, what’s going on? It turns out that a new Microsoft Surface 2 tablet ad shows that Microsoft Excel apparently struggles with basic arithmetic.
A closeup of the Excel spreadsheet shows a budget for a trip to Hawaii. Unfortunately, the total displayed is not correct. Adding up all the rows yields a total of $9,500 but the spreadsheet incorrectly shows it as $9,000. As AppleInsider points out “Despite lacking some features, such as chart editing or 3D depictions, the browser accessible Numbers can still add correctly. ”
Given that Microsoft is pitching the Surface 2 as the perfect business machine, the ad does not exactly instill confidence. For now, Microsoft may want to brush up on the math skills of its PR firm.
Source : AppleInsider