{"id":951,"date":"2010-11-10T08:41:45","date_gmt":"2010-11-10T04:41:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/?p=951"},"modified":"2010-11-18T11:04:11","modified_gmt":"2010-11-18T07:04:11","slug":"the-biggest-bonus-of-them-all-and-how-to-spend-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/technology-in-the-middle-east\/middle-east-telecommunications-news-views-analysis\/the-biggest-bonus-of-them-all-and-how-to-spend-it\/","title":{"rendered":"The Biggest Bonus of them all, & How to Spend it"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Whenever I was asked three or four years ago \u2018what\u2019s your favourite aspect of Dubai?\u2019 my answer was consistent. \u2018How it recedes\u00a0 in my rear view mirror as I head to the desert.\u2019 \u00a0 Many of us who had been here for some time \u2013 the \u2018Old Expats\u2019 \u2013 had an ambivalent relationship with the rapidly developing metropolis that was being dragged from the sand by who-knows-what-percentage of all the world\u2019s cranes.<\/p>\n

Delighted to be a part of one of the great experiments in city\/state development (and let\u2019s not forget, benefiting materially from same) we were disoriented by the scale, pace and sheer relentlessness of what was happening all around us. \u00a0 While one retreat \u2013 the beach \u2013 was being gobbled up by developers, another \u2013 the desert \u2013 remained to a greater degree out of reach of JCBs, Caterpillars and \u2018unique off-plan, high-end, community living\u2019 opportunities.<\/p>\n

The desert is a place of silence, of light and shadow, of a sparkling night sky re-discovered, of warmth and fellowship. \u00a0 We discovered a few special places which we shared with some of our close friends and guarded the GPS co-ordinates of \u2018our favourite spots\u2019 securely. \u00a0 Whenever the noise of piles being driven or, Dubai\u2019s theme tune, the high pitch \u2018neeeee-uh\u2019 of marble being cut got too much we would load the four wheel drive with tent, sleeping bags plus all necessary provisions and scarper.<\/p>\n

The \u2018global crisis\u2019 of the last two years has brought a swift and often brutal re-appraisal of priorities for virtually everyone on the planet. All except the banking community who seem, again, to be enjoying abundant bonuses \u2013 proof, once more, of the old gambling adage \u2018you\u2019ll never beat the House\u2019.<\/p>\n

The rest of us, however, have had to adjust to \u2018the new realities\u2019.\u00a0 Whether this period is just a temporary blip on an upward path of uber-growth or a fundamental re-ordering of the global financial system we\u2019ll leave to the economists to discuss, and disagree about.<\/p>\n

What is clear, though, is that many of us have had time over the past two years to think. \u00a0 And to talk.\u00a0 And to spend time with people, maybe even have lunch or a leisurely coffee with them.\u00a0 And we enjoy it.\u00a0 Yes, we may not spend so many evenings feasting on five star cuisine in seven star hotels; we may not switch cars every 12 months or rush to buy the latest \u2018must have\u2019 technological gadget.\u00a0 But the greatest and most under-valued luxury of all \u2013 time \u2013 has been granted to us and its prior absence has sharpened our appetite and appreciation.<\/p>\n

In the early 90\u2019s I sat in on an interview with a client, an IT guru and a journalist from The Times.\u00a0 As we sat in the upmarket Soho pizzeria, Kettners of Soho, the guru spun an exciting, irresistible vision of a future where technology would be available to all \u2013 small devices which would enable us to work anywhere free of the tyranny of the office, the ability to video-conference with friends and family for free.\u00a0 Remember, this was a time well before computers became a fixture on every desk and when the height of technology was the fax machine.<\/p>\n

The journalist, a usually truculent and cynical individual was visibly inspired. \u00a0 After he left I turned to the client to congratulate him on conducting such a wonderful interview.\u00a0 He was grim faced. \u2018You know what all this means, James?\u00a0 Slavery.\u00a0 There will be no place where you can escape work, no time when you will not be expected to work. It\u2019ll be hell on earth for most people.\u2019 \u00a0 Within two years the guru had retired from the IT business and embarked on a successful career as a rock musician.<\/p>\n

So, many of us have an opportunity to think about the time we\u2019ve got now and work out what we would be prepared to trade for this particular luxury.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JAMES MULLAN: The journalist was inspired. After he left I turned to the client to congratulate him on conducting such a wonderful interview. He was grim faced. \u2018You know what this means, James? Slavery. There will be no place where you can escape work, no time when you will not be expected to work. It\u2019ll be hell on earth for most people.\u2019 Within two years the guru had retired from the IT business and embarked on a successful career as a rock musician.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":954,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56,38],"tags":[197,2214,1879,2213],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}