RADIO KHALEEJI GA GA
I am a loss as to find any more news on this issue, other than what I read on Arabian Biz. So the question is, where did they get their information from? I have a few loyal and trusty ears and eyes within the Ministry and there was no hint of this in the wind leading up to this announcement. Has this ‘really’ been thought through?
There is such a huge misconception and indeed perception to the contrary that there are ‘qualified’ broadcasters of standing within the local media. There are a few nice voices if you like, but there are no characters, no real professionals and how can there be? Despite whatever the existing media says, there is no such thing as ‘free media’ in the entire Islamic world, never mind the Gulf itself. There just cannot be because to have such talent, one needs to be a free spirit and the culture is not ready to hear alternative thought as such. Those that do realize the poor showing cannot come up against the masses, so just give up. By doing so, we have a vicious circle spiraling into the abyss.
Since it all began, it was just lip service. there has really been no understanding of the art, thus no progress, no respect or discerning the principal in the first place. Besides, those above who are put in a position of power or management have no real notion of broadcast media or the arts either for that matter. Nice people maybe, good friends of mine to say the least, but it is all smoke blowing and say the right thing. National pride and the desire to believe that everything local is professional and sound (no pun intended) goes without saying, but we all know really that this is delusion personified.
Some come and they quickly go. For most the eviction was not of their choice. Others are removed because of intimidation, whereby they literally make monkeys of the talent-less offerings sitting beside them and so easily and willingly put in place. For a few others, they take one look and say; ‘Sod this’.
Nobody gets trained in the art, nobody cares, nobody perceives the industry as a profession which requires qualification. Even then, the qualification is intangible.
So here they go, a commercial dream for some, one might think. After all, MBC has had such outrageous privilege for years now, being the ‘ONLY ONES’ given rights to broadcast commercially regionally. That in itself is the epitome of ignorance of the profession. Just as Group Plus were given the status of a Monopoly running a Monopoly. They have NEVER paid a single penny in royalties, to the artists who make the platform possible and attract the listeners for their advertising to be heard. It is ludicrous really.
Orbit Showtime, or OSN are prime examples of the notion that there must be money to be made in media. So get a monopoly and coin it. OSN to my knowledge has NEVER put a cent back into the industry. They have never nurtured the art of which feeds them. So what can we expect?
Until I get more details, I can only post here what I did on Face Book and perhaps some of the comments returned as I go. So far, nobody really cares.
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iPhone5 TIMES AND YOUR PHONE IS SWITCHED OFF – REVISITED!
Don’t tell me there is no ‘Illuminati’ (no need to buy the book) and Apple don’t attend those decadent parties of extreme deviance. Wondering about the ‘apple’ symbol, I am now very suspicious of the significance within the society.
Nobody fixed the iPhone5 ‘no network’ issue. The loss of passwords when coming in and out of known wifi haunts. The low battery retention or the heat and the sudden demise altogether after just a month or so. Apple lost their credibility for many over this, but they will get away with it. After all, some iPhone5 models were working ok-ish, depending on the batch. Nobody cared and no main stream media picked up the story of Apple’s woes with it and their silence over the issue. Sending back as many as 8 million faulty devices to Taiwan in May 2013, is a major Toyota size recall, but NO! Not a blink from anywhere. ‘Wait for the IOS7 they say, all will be fixed. Not only 7 but a revamped iPhone5 S. Never mind that most of us forked out over 500 quid for a heap of trash. Let us see what the 64 bit S brings, Or should that be; ‘Let us pray that it is improved’.
I love the iPhone, but maybe Apple or the Chinese tried to be a little too clever. As a comms engineer in my past life, I have a gut feeling that the iPhone5 woes are hardware rather than software. Not that I could open a mobile phone these days and figure out what is going on inside, but the principles have to be the same. GPRS, EDGE, 3G, 4G and so on, all accommodated on the one device. All different waves lengths and many different algorithms to deal with from an antenna reception point of view. Yes it could well have been software, whereby in the switching of wavelength requirements, something was not right. However, and logically, that does not explain why some iPhone5 releases were ok, or seemed to be ok. (People are so fickle. If you call some of those OK phones, you might still get the ‘This phone is switched off’ response and everyone just blames the network).
I got so fed up with my iPhone 5 and my provider Zain, doing nothing about it, simply because they could not, it was out of their hands. Within 6 weeks of owning the phone, it died. It would not charge and the existing charged withered away like a rotting corps. What could Zain do? No replacement other than change your iPhone for another smart phone of a different type. This is exactly what I did. I was advised by my buddies in Zain to go for the Samsung Galaxy S4, which I did. I have had the stunning Dell Streak for a couple of years now, so I know the Android operating system enough to find my way around a bit. I also have an earlier Samsung Galaxy of the small type. Slowly I was getting used to the S4, but more importantly, I NEVER lost a single call with this phone, so please please please all you Zain doubters out there, stop blaming the network for this particular issue – it is the iPhone 5. Not that the network itself is by any means perfect, as we all know it aint for all mobile providers. Viva Bahrain have exactly the same iPhone 5 problems as no doubt do hundreds of other providers around the world. All of which preferred to keep their mouths shut. The marketing departments absolutely shit scared to mention any issues if the other carrier didn’t. Very sad, very sad indeed.
So where was I? Oh yes; I say that I ‘was’ getting used to my S4, when my UK provider EE/T Mobile, decided to give me the new Sony Experia T. There is something about ‘love at first fight’ with it. Fight I did, until I got it working on net, sending data. It required a few reboots to hold the settings, but now all seems tickety-boo and some rather sensible ergonomic advantages over the Samsung S4. Let’s see how I get on with it.
Meantime, I did try to buy an iPhone5 S while in the UK this week (Sept 2013) but that proved difficult and the price was well out of order. All readers of this blog would dearly love to know if the iPhone5 S has been fixed. Post please.