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veiledsentiments

Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA
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Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2006 2:32 pm Post subject: |
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kevmar wrote: |
A modern, high speed, wired computer ready infrastructure is not a priority is how that reads to someone not living there. At least, not for private use. Implies home computers are still a rarity. |
Exactly... and so you shall see when you get there. In 1970 there were no electrictiy, no telephones, one hospital (with one doctor), and only 3 tiny Quranic schools with a handful of students.
Compare that to what you will find when you get there. They have done an amazing job of modernizing in the 36 years, and while Muscat is catching up in home computer ownership as the kids get computer educated, the villages in the hinterlands are still behind in that area. (but they now have electricity, schools, telephones, and medical care)
Most town large enough to have a college or university will at least provide you with a decent connection at work. This thread is a year old, so you might go check the website mentioned above and see what it says now. As more people get onto the system and it spreads further in the country, the price should go down.
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kevmar
Joined: 16 Aug 2004 Posts: 8 Location: Osaka, Japan
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Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2006 1:17 am Post subject: |
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As they modernize, what is the basis for their economy? I'm doing reading here and there on the net, and surprisingly little seems to be out there.
I followed up on the Omantel links. I'd rather use netcafes and not have the high speed access I'm used to then spend 5% of my salary on internet access. Living in Japan, I have withdrawal pangs just thinking about it.
As for using a year old thread, it seemed better than starting a new one. |
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veiledsentiments

Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA
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Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2006 3:06 am Post subject: |
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Mentioning the age of the thread wasn't a criticism, but sometimes people don't notice the dates. My hopes are that things are better now... that high speed has spread and prices may have gone down.
When I was last teaching there, I used the high speed at work for most of my internet work, but had the very cheap dial-up at home to have more privacy on emails.
But one will go through a bit of culture shock moving from a place like Japan which tend to be ultra modern to Oman, which is modernizing rapidly, but is trying not to traumatize the society with having things move too fast.
Their development is mostly based on oil, but they do not have the huge fields of the rest of the Gulf. In a way that is good because in Oman, the Omanis actually work... a difference that doesn't become as apparent until one works in a country where the locals don't.
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scot47

Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343
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Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2006 6:21 am Post subject: |
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Are yous suggesting that some people in the Gulf do not work ? What a terrible to thing to say ! |
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kuberkat
Joined: 03 Jun 2005 Posts: 358 Location: Oman
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Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2006 10:46 am Post subject: |
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Er, scot47, judging from your former posts I am assuming your tongue is firmly in your cheek when you say
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Are yous suggesting that some people in the Gulf do not work ? What a terrible to thing to say ! |
Mmmm. Yes. Not working is not such a sin, but what does cause problems is when people feel entitled to their jobs, especially in an environment where there is no competition, and hence no alternative for customers. Unfortunately the process of Omanization has been misinterpreted to mean "employing" Omanis rather than "empowering" (excuse the psychobabble) them. Meaning that while many people have been given jobs, they have not been guided in the area of service or quality. Which is why I am almost physically attacked by Carrefour's packers when I ask that my newspaper (the only item I bought) not be put in an unneeded plastic bag. Or when I make a recommendation of how a business can improve its profits with a tiny adjustment of service, I get told that "That's not our job. This is the service department". Quote unquote, yes. Silly idiot me, for assuming that the service department may be interested in performing its function, or that a business may be motivated by profits. Or the shrugged phrase that accompanies mindless and unnecessary littering in this almost unspoilt country: "The Indians will clean it up."
These attitudes do not bode well for the country's future, and I hope that in some small way I can subvert this trend in my students while I have the chance. It puzzles the lymph out of me why exaptriates should be more concerned with a country's preservation or a nation's moral fiber than the nation itself. |
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