Not contradictory. Depends on the nature of the surface, the ambient temperature, sunlight or dark, all sorts of variables. The conservative approach is - assume 3 days and wash your hands often.
What does a short period of time really mean? I guess I don’t think 3 days as a short period of time. A previous post just said they found live COVID-19 virus on hard surfaces on a cruise ship 17 days after it was taken out of service.