If you thought you weren’t getting the internet connection speed you’re paying for, you may be right. According to Knesset member Meir Sheetrit, the two companies in Israel that provide infrastructure and backbone services for internet connection – Bezeq (the phone company) and Hot (the cable company) – are not going to be able to provide the super-fast speeds they are promising to customers, except in maybe a few places.
Sheetrit suggests that the companies be required by law to tell customers the maximum speed they can expect in their areas, considering the potential for misleading customers. “Often, because of their naiveté, customers sign up for service at high speed and prices, only to find out that the company is unable to provide the service,” he wrote in a letter to the Knesset Technology Committee.
Sheetrit forgot to add what comes next – the near-impossibility of getting your money back after you’ve been ripped off by these vultures. It’s bad enough that they (by “they” I mean almost every large service company, not just ISPs) will try to sell you stuff you don’t need at almost every turn, but when the service or product they dump off on you doesn’t even work, trying to get your money back is out of the question – the best you can hope for, usually, is a credit towards a future purchase. In other words, once they’ve got your money, you’re not getting it back!
As I wrote in the Jerusalem Post, it’s a worldwide trend – service and quality you once expected as a matter of course is now “premium,” as companies, strapped for cash, nickel and dime us for everything they can squeeze out of us.
Why am I not surprised? This is just another manifestation of an attitude that you find in so many places, from the corner store to the bank to, of course, the government. They sweet talk you and act like you’re their best friend when they try to get you to sign up – but once they have your money, try getting the time of day out of them!
Here are a few good tests I’ve found which indicates how badly you are going to get ripped off:
Before ordering a service, call the company’s service line, and see how long they keep you waiting. While all companies are guilty of giving lousy service, some are less bad than others. As I do lots of research for my writing, I call companies like Orange, Bezeq, etc. to ask questions, even if I’m not a subscriber to the service. A good indication of what to expect is the “sales to service call” ratio – ie, the time difference between how fast the sales people answer the phone, and how slowly the service people talk to you. The bigger the gap, the worse the service, I’ve found.
Ditto for the sales pitches they give you, both recorded and live. Some companies will respond to nearly every question with a sales pitch, basically ignoring what you asked (but implying that your problem can be solved if you just ‘upgrade’). Often long times on hold are coordinated with repeated recorded sales pitches – it’s as if they keep you waiting just so they can get you to listen to their stupid ads! Avoid companies that do this, if possible.
Any service or sales person that does not implicitly understand that they work for you – and not the opposite – is a bad reflection on the company they work for. When I speak to sales or service reps, I’m very attuned to signs of cynicism or superciliousness. If the person on the other end of the phone sounds like s/he has his/her nose up in the air when they talk to you – like they’re somehow better than you (even though you’re paying their salary!) – it’s time to move on.
How do you resolve these issues? In Israel, a loud voice always helps. You have to be prepared “lahafoch shulchanot” (go crazy),as they say. Threaten to switch, cancel the service, or threatening to tell all your friends how bad the service/product is can help too, sometimes; most of the people you speak to on the phone don’t care one way or the other, but if you really do cancel or switch, you can be sure their manager will be listening to the recording of the conversation and probably call them on it, so if you can make them understand that it is they who are causing you to want to leave the company, they may think twice before acting nasty. Unfortunately, there’s no sure-fire single method that works every time; it’s a matter of experimentation, seeing which company reacts to what tactic.
But it’s worth the effort; when you confront the service providers and make them understand what they are doing wrong, you are contributing to an improvement of the consumer culture in this country – and maybe even helping the next person not to get ripped off!
What could you do with 45 million shekels (nearly $12 million at NIS 3.80/dollar)? Retire, probably. But what could you do with that kind of money if you were a government official who had to spend it on the public? Well, let’s see:
1) You could provide 45,000 poor families with 1,000 shekels a month for food and expenses
2) You could pay the rent for a year for 2,000 families (12 months @ $500/month)
3) You could provide a decent paying job for 450 people (annual salary of NIS 100,000 a year)
Or,
4) You could buy licenses for Windows and Microsoft Office for all the computers in Israel’s schools (about 200,000 altogether).
According to this article in Hebrew business daily Calcalist, it comes down to laziness – both on the part of teachers and the Education Ministry, which doesn’t want to “rock the boat” and make teachers learn “new technology,” or seek out technical support from people who know Linux, preferring to stick with what they’re used to. Not that that they get free support from Microsoft for either Windows or Office – for that, they have to hire technical people and pay them separately. That NIS 45,000,000 is just for licenses.
So the next time some politician wails about how poor the country is, just tell him/her you know how to save an easy 45 million shekels – all it takes is having teachers download a free copy of OO (which you really have to look at hard to realize that it’s not MS Office) and installing Linux on their PCs. May I suggest that instead of spending $39.90 on each Windows/Office license (the cost per machine which the NIS 45 million deal works out to), the Education Ministry invest in a few copies of Linux for Dummies for each school!
Note this sentence from the Calcalist article: “The Education Ministry, as far as it is concerned, sees the deal (NIS 45,000,000 for Windows and Office on all of its computers) as a very good one, since all other government ministries are paying $130 for each package.” (!)
Israel is a technology powerhouse – but how powerful a powerhouse? Very powerful, it turns out – and now we have the statistics to back up the claim. A study by the Taub Center for Social Policy Research shows that Israel runs circles around even the most advanced countries when it comes to patents, research, and even Nobel prizes!
For example, the study says, Israelis get more patents in the United States per capita (relative to population size) than any of the G7 countries, including the U.S. itself. By 2003, in fact, Israelis had 69% more patents per capita than any of the G7’s. In 1990, by contrast, Israelis got 6% fewer patents than inventors in G7 countries (which in itself is not too shabby, imho).
Nobel prizes? Israel is in sixth place overall in absolute numbers of Nobel Prize winners. Since 2000, Nobel Prizes have been awarded to at least one winner in 20 of 200 countries around the world – while Israelis during that period won 5 Nobels!
Research? Check this out: Israeli economists were cited in more publications (per capita, ie relative to the number of economists in each country) between 1970 and 2000 than economists in any other country in the world. The runner-up is Britain – but Israeli economists were cited seven times more than British economists in magazines, books, periodicals, journals, etc.!
The study has more to say – not so good -about standards of living, poverty, etc. I’ll get to that in the next an upcoming post, but let’s first enjoy this good news, at least for now!
On Saturday – Shabbat – Hareidim will be protesting the fact that Intel’s brand new Jerusalem fabrication plant will be operating on the holy day. And come Saturday night, Israel’s media is going to be all agog. I can already picture the headlines and the stories in papers like Ha’aretz, the Jerusalem Post, Yedi’ot, etc. – each paper has its own style, or if you prefer, slant. But they are all going to get the story wrong. You want to know what’s really going on? Keep reading!
Over the past several years, the intensity of “Shabbos protests” has increased, most recently with the ugly scenes in the center of Jerusalem over the opening of a parking lot by the city. But Intel is no local parking lot or supermarket, and the story, as it will be portrayed by all the mainstream media in Israel, will portray “fanatic Hareidim” pitted against the essence of modernity – the computer chip. Editors should have a field day with that one!
Then there will be the stories about how the Hareidim, who “don’t work,” aren’t just satisfied to sit around themselves, but have no problem jeopardizing the jobs of other Jerusalem residents, by trying to drive Intel out of town – and maybe out of Israel altogether! And, of course, there will be the take on how the Hareidim just want to throw their weight around, and are doing this just to get back at the city for electing a secular mayor – because after all, it’s located in Har Hotzvim, an industrial zone where no religious people (or people of any sort) actually live – so the plant is not going to directly damage anyone’s “Sabbath peace.”
It’s just too easy a story not to be stereotyped, but in this case, things may not be so simple. The anti-Intel protests are being organized by Knesset members from United Torah Judaism (UTJ) – the issue was pushed by UTJ Knesset member Uri Maklev. Although the epitome of what is called “ultra-Orthodox,” UTJ was very reticent when it came to the Karta mess (those protests were organized by a private group, and was steered by “ultra-Hareidi” Hassidic groups). UTJ represents Hareidi “yeshivish” circles, of course, but it also represents the average working Hareidi family, and engages with all the institutions of the state, and much of its Knesset activity involves getting tax breaks and benefits for large families, etc. They’re frequently accused of being “non-Zionist,” but they’re certainly no less (and probably a lot more) Zionist than groups like Peace Now. And while the secular media often disagrees with their positions, no one would consider them to be “fanatics.”
So if there’s any group you would think would not be leading this – who would understand that a fab plant needs to operate 24/7 – it would be these guys. Despite the stereotype, many Hareidim are “plugged in” to some extent, using the internet, e-mail, cellphones, etc. And they certainly understand what’s at stake in this battle. Even more: Considering that the old Intel plant in Jerusalem also operated on Shabbat and nobody seemed to care, and that other Intel plants around the country are open Saturday as well without anyone complaining – and that nightclubs and restaurants even in the center of town, much less in places like Talpiot, are open on Shabbat, without anyone protesting – you have to wonder exactly what is going on here.
Like I said, taking on Intel is not like taking on a parking lot, and the UTJ Knesset members who are leading this have to know that they are going to have a very hard time defending their position to the secular public. Ergo, we can take them at their word – that the reason they are doing this is, besides defending the “honor of the Sabbath,” they are worried that other businesses will take their cue from Intel and open on Shabbat as well (this is one of the top reasons mentioned by the organizers).
However, I believe something else is going on here; we’ve been handed a hot potato from the One Above, who wants to see how we are going to manage.
In this issue, we’re faced with a stark choice, it seems – the sanctity of the Sabbath versus the pull of modernity, the essence of modernity; the world’s biggest manufacturer of computer chips! But in this battle, the side that “wins” loses, too; if Intel packs up because of this, no one will be happy – including the Hareidim, because members of their community (mostly female) work at good jobs at Intel, supporting their husbands in Yeshiva. Without those jobs, the financial situation of dozens of Yeshiva families will be very precarious.
And if Intel “wins,” the Jewish people as a whole lose; the Sabbath is not an institution to be regarded lightly, as Jewish history tells us. Religious Jews believe they have an obligation to protest against desecration of the Sabbath, and there are plenty of sources in Jewish writings that mention this. As an observant individual, I take Shabbat seriously, and personally I believe that figuring out how to integrate the modern world with Shabbat – and vice versa – is one of the major challenges G-d has given our generation.
It’s been said that G-d often does things with an “ironic” twist – as in, “you wanted X to happen so badly, well let’s see how you handle it when it does.” Seen in that light, the Intel story is a challenge to both “sides”. While the Hareidi leadership has an obligation to lead battle to preserve the Sabbath (if they don’t, who will?), they’re also a part of the Jewish people, and the modern State of Israel. So, apparently, it’s been decided on High that the time has come to work out a balance between the two. The same goes for Intel; for years, it’s been profiting off the genius of Israel, the Holy Land – a place where the Sabbath means something. The time has come for it to figure out how to respect the moral Law of that land, even with a fab plant that has to operate 24.7.
So that’s our choice – coming together or oblivion, one way or another. The latter is too painful to picture, regardless of who “wins.” The fact that this showdown is being waged by those who are considered the “safekeepers” of Shabbat in Israel, and the epitome of modern computer technology, is so rife with symbolism and meaning that you have to be blind not to get it. But imagine if both sides manage to pull it off – if they do figure out a way to preserve the Sabbath, and keep the plant going! Imagine being able to meet that G-d given challenge successfully! Who could imagine the benefits – the “blessings” – that would emerge?
Chalk up another successful export industry Israel is a player in: Satellites. Earlier this year, Israel’s first communication satellite, Amos-1, was sold to Intelsat, one of the largest operators of communication satellites in the world. Amos 1 will now be known as Intelsat 24, and will be used for communications in East Asia – meaning that Iranians watching channels like India’s Star TV may be getting their shows from an Israeli-made satellite!
According Amitzur Rosenfeld, director of MicroSat Israel (a joint venture between IAI and Rafael to build micro-satellites), Intelsat is directing eastward Amos-1, which is still in orbit. Speaking recently at a scientific conference in Tel Aviv, Rosenfeld said the original plan had been to use whatever fuel was left on the old Amos-1 (launched in 1996) and fire it out of the earth’s orbit, to make room for new satellites. By doing so, Israel was being a good world citizen; according to NASA, there are over 9,000 (!) satellites and/or other “artificial objects” orbiting the earth, so things can get crowded up there!
Israel, it turns out, is one of the most advanced countries in satellite technology anywhere, because of the launching technology it has developed, along with breakthroughs in imaging. Most of the country’s communication satellites (like the Amoses) have been launched from outside the country (France, India, Russia, etc.), because of the need to fire satellites in an eastward direction, the direction of the earth’s rotation. That works fine in Florida or Texas, but in this part of the world, an eastbound launch might be construed as an attack by Jordan or further neighbors.
And, in addition, Israel’s new TecSAR satellite provides superior imaging capabilities, enabling sensors to pick up what is going on down below even during cloudy weather. Israel and France are developing a satellite that will enable farmers, fishermen and governments to better keep track of the land and sea environment, and according to “informed sources,” NASA is set to build a satellite in Israel using TecSAR technology to be used to map the usually very cloudy planet Venus. Nowadays, here in Israel, “space cadet” is a compliment, not an insult!
With the weather turning wintery in Israel over the last few days – and more promised for this week – I wanted to tell you about a great service you may not know about. Dr. Barry Lynn’s Weather It Is is a weather forecasting service that gives a specific forecast for dozens of cities in Israel, usually much more accurate than the forecast you get on radio or TV.
I interviewed Dr. Lynn for the Jpost a few years ago, and he told me that the standard “one size fits all” weather forecast issued by the Israel Weather Service is the result of bad equipment, small budgets, and poor motivation (as in small salaries). The one perk the forecasters doget, it appears, is fame – the one on duty during prime radio hours gets to jabber with the hosts a little bit, but beyond that there’s little to attract talented meteorologists to a government job, he said.
By the way – weather forecasters do a lot more than just tell you whether you should take an umbrella when you leave the house. As I wrote then:
…improved and more accurate weather prediction could be a boon for many industries that need to wrestle the environmental elements in order to get work done. Take an electric company crew that needs to do major line work, for example. These guys get paid a huge hunk of change for field work, and if the company sends them out on a job, while they sit in the truck instead of working because a surprise electrical storm has made it too dangerous to work, the company – and, of course, its customers – end up footing that bill. An accurate weather prediction for the specific area in question is valuable information for the utility, says Dr. Lynn, and they’ll pay – as will oil and gas drillers, farmers, airports and a host of other industries and services.
When I spoke to Dr. Lynn, he mentioned that he was involved in forming some deals, and indeed he now has a general website where he advertises his services, and it appears he’s “weathering” the recssion. Meanwhile, he updates his Israel site on a regular basis. It’s interesting to see what the differences in weather are in various places in Israel during stormy times like these!
Israel is the world leader in hi-tech innovations. So many of the internet, cellphone, and gadget inventions that make our lives easier and more fun are born right here in Israel! Get the inside track on the newest ideas and innovations in our bi-weekly Digital Israel Newsletter. Sign up right here!
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