Dubai Says NO to Apple

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

I sit with Mr. Abdul Al Qaskim Al Bind'ul Noor in a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf store sipping a Japanese Cheery Green Tea, while he loads his Apple Macbook. 12 seconds later, he says, "See? All done. Loaded. How long was that? About 10-15 seconds? Now how long would your Vista take?"

Abdul, an American educated Emarati, is one of the 800+ users of the Apple Macbook within Dubai. He sits discussing his concern over a new law that may soon be passed by the government. "First they ban smoking, then holding hands in public, then surfing," he says, "OK, these things are dangerous, yani. But to simply stop people from using a computer they prefer... Argh! (shouts in Arabic)."

Mr Yassim Al Qurashi Zin from the Ministry of Interior sees the move as an important one. "You go outside in my office now. Just go and see," he says, "you will see maybe 2 Mac users and the rest 26 people use windows. I think one uses Linux or something. But, go out and see how the Mac users look at the rest of the team. They are technologists. They discriminate!" 

Yassim then compares how Apple users see Windows users as the Western media saw Arabs as terrorist. "It is just like that, really. You go and look," he said, "you think I like to sit alone in this big office? My desk is outside. But I can't stand it now! So I moved here."

"It's not about that at all," says James Stitch, an Australian residing in Dubai for the last 6 years. "This is a much bigger issue, and it's stupid, really" says James, hugging his Apple Macbook.

"This new rule is because they are scared. They think that Apple is device setup by the Catholic Church to convert people into Christians -- it's because of the whole Adam and Eve and the Apple," he says, laughing, "they're just thick!" James has established the "Apple - Think Different" movement, which is still "in early phases," as he suggests. "But, I think any revolution must start from within, man!" he says as he reveals the Apple tattoo on his back.