ALKHOBAR, 24 June 2003 — Have you noticed the bizarre disclaimers that are being stuck to the bottom of e-mails lately? About a year back, e-mails from international companies started to be tagged with disclaimers like the one that follows:
“This e-mail is intended solely for the addressee(s) and the information it contains is confidential. If you are not the intended recipient (a) please delete this e-mail and inform the sender as soon as possible, and (b) any copying, distribution or other action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance upon it is prohibited and may be unlawful.”
That disclaimer was at the bottom of an e-mail sent from a PR company. The language is weird but not totally frightening. Compare the previous disclaimer with this one sent out by a local bank on all its e-mail:
“This e-mail is confidential. It may also be legally privileged. If you are not the addressee you may not copy, forward, disclose or use any part of it. If you have received this message in error, please delete it and all copies from your system and notify the sender immediately by return e-mail. Internet communications cannot be guaranteed to be timely, secure, error or virus free. The sender does not accept liability for any errors or omissions.”
After reading the disclaimer, one might wonder why the bank sends out e-mail at all, as it seems that these communications are not only worthless, but potentially damaging — note the virus comment. Another example of a disclaimer that’s over the top is the one being sent on e-mail from Saudi Telecom (STC). Their disclaimer starts out with the standard warning about the e-mail being intended only for the addressee. However, the last line of the disclaimer is fantastic. It reads:
“Statements and opinions expressed in this e-mail are those of the sender, and do not necessarily reflect those of STC.”
Once again, such a notice makes the e-mail utterly useless as an official communication. Interestingly, while some local companies are slapping disclaimers on all e-mail leaving their offices, other firms haven’t taken up the habit. I asked a lawyer’s office in Riyadh why their e-mail doesn’t have a disclaimer. They explained, “If it needs a disclaimer, we shouldn’t be sending it out at all. We ask clients concerning their preferred method of communication and all addresses are verified. However, some documents would never be sent by e-mail. Our e-mail system is very secure and monitored, and we often use encryption. While we do not restrict Internet use at our office, we have specified that employees should not use the corporate e-mail address on personal communications.”
Such rational policy makes much more sense than a disclaimer!
Despite certain drawbacks, e-mail is an increasingly popular method of communication. In Saudi Arabia downloading e-mail on the go really isn’t possible unless a person has an Inmarsat satellite account. But that’s not the case everywhere.
The Middle East’s first computing “hotspot” — giving the general public low-cost wireless Internet access — has opened in Dubai. Toshiba, Intel and Al-Futtaim Group have come together to launch the facility that eliminates the need for cables, telephone lines and dial-up modems.
Visitors to the Cyber Café at Plug-Ins, Deira City Center, can make a wireless Internet connection through a range of Toshiba Tecra S1 notebook computers based on Intel’s mobile technology, Centrino. Or, individuals bringing their own wireless-enabled notebooks, can walk into Plug-Ins at any time and check their e-mail or surf the Internet - free. The Plug-Ins hotspot at the Cyber Café at Deira City Center will be free to all users during a promotion running from June 30-July 6 at the start of the Dubai Summer Surprises Festival.
Until now, Middle East hotspots have been restricted to a few luxury hotels or specialist office buildings. Thousands of people from all walks of life are expected to use the Plug-Ins’ Cyber Café monthly.
Speaking on behalf of Al-Futtaim Electronics Toshiba, General Manager R. Muralidharan said: “We are the first in the market with this technology which will be a boon to people on the move, especially considering the huge extent of global business done in Dubai and the high proportion of notebook usage by visiting business people.”
The new Plug-Ins public hotspot uses a Toshiba wireless access point, with an ADSL line to a Toshiba SG20 server that links wirelessly to the Tecra S1 notebooks. Hotspots have been made possible by Intel’s Centrino mobile technology, which has become the industry standard since being launched three months ago.
“From PC makers to service providers, to airports, hotels and retail locations, we are seeing strong acceptance for Intel Centrino mobile technology,” said Gilbert Lacroix, general manager, Intel Middle East and Africa. “The world is changing, both consumers and business professionals are enjoying the benefits of being able to unwire and unplug.”
Toshiba hotspot solutions are rapidly spreading, enabling people to send and receive information just as quickly as if they were plugged into a fixed computer network. In Europe alone, an estimated 10,000 Toshiba hotspots will be in place by mid-2004 based at sites such as hotels, convention centers, coffee shops, motorway stops and other popular public locations.
“Toshiba is interested in working with STC to open hotspots in the Kingdom, just as we are doing in Dubai and elsewhere,” said Ahmed Khalil, regional manager, Toshiba’s Middle East Computer Systems Division. “With hotspots, busy executives not only benefit from instant ability to send and receive information – they can do it in the fastest way possible, giving them the freedom to work anytime, anywhere, anyhow.”
According to the latest figures from IDC, Toshiba’s strategy to focus on mobility appears to be paying off. Toshiba achieved a growth of 423.8 percent in the Saudi mobile PC market in Q1 2003 in comparison with Q1 2002, which earned the company a 24 percent market share. Ahmed Khalil was in the Kingdom two weeks ago meeting with channel partners and enterprise customers to ensure that there is total market satisfaction backing the company’s impressive growth.
Khalil admitted that Toshiba has learned some difficult lessons about the Saudi market. The company has strengthened its channel partners — Arabian Business Machines and Jarir Bookstores, and given its customers what they want — best technology, lower prices and quality service.
“Toshiba has become very aware of branding and marketing, and very aggressive in terms of pricing,” said Khalil. “It does put pressure on our margins but we’ve dealt with it. Our three year warranty gives the market confidence to purchase the best in technology because customers know the investment is going to last.”
In discussing the latest notebooks, Khalil refused to talk about Pentium 4. “For mobility, the days of Pentium are over. Centrino machines are future proof,” Khalil asserted. “We have seen that at the enterprise level, where customers typically use their notebooks as primary information and communication tools, all the interest is in Centrino.”
More market share means more customers to care for, and Abdulaziz Al-Noghaither, GM, Arabian Business Machines (ABM) outlined some of the steps ABM has taken in the past year to offer better service to Toshiba’s customers in Saudi Arabia.
“Toshiba has been keeping us informed about upcoming technologies and product life cycles. This has allowed us to send our support engineers to Germany for training well in advance of the new products arriving in the Saudi market,” said Al-Noghaither. “We have enhanced stock availability at our local warehouse and implemented a very short supply chain. Even the rare part ordered from abroad is at the local service center within 48 hours, with replacement equipment provided till the repair is made. As the GM I have instructed all sales and service staff that my telephone number is to be given out immediately to any customer requesting it. And at every service center there is a locked box available for customer comments. Do you see where its key is? (He opened his briefcase.) The key is taped to the inside of my briefcase. I’m the only one who has access to those comments. I want to hear all comments directly from our customers and I take direct action.”
To illustrate how quickly Toshiba portables are selling in the Kingdom, Al-Noghaither highlighted the experience of value-added reseller, Native Solutions. This reseller, working with local schools, added six educational software programs, plus an Internet account and secure surfing to Toshiba notebooks. Native Solutions also offered installment payment plus DHL delivery. The company sold 1000 notebooks in less than a month.
“This is the mobility era. Market research shows that the desktop PC business is already being forced to cope with negative growth figures,” commented Khalil. “Mobile computers are fueling the growth in hardware sales. Toshiba is strongly positioned in a very thin market area — notebooks, PDAs and other mobile devices. Now the market trend is coming our way.”