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Al Jazeera switches to Macs

updated 10:45 am EST, Mon November 20, 2006

Al Jazeera Intl. switches

The English version of Al Jazeera -- a 24-hour news and current affairs channel in the Middle East based in Doha, Qatar -- has announced that it will utilize a range of Apple products for its media organization. The company said it will make use of 41 MacBook Pros with the same number of Final Cut Studio licenses for journalists; a 70TB Apple storage solution with 10 Apple Xserve 7TB XRAID setups as well as 14 Apple Xsan software licenses; 12 PowerMac G5 Quad systems; two Power Mac G5 Dual Core workstations; and 19 23-inch Apple Cinema HD Displays. A subsidiary of Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera International is the world's first English language news channel to be headquartered in the Middle East, according to AME Info, and the channel has more than 30 bureaus alongside dozens of correspondents covering the world.

Ghassan Bendali, Deputy General Manager of Arab Business Machines, who is supplying the technology stated: "Al Jazeera International is definitely a big name in the region today, and is anticipated to become one of the worlds' biggest broadcasters in coming years. We are absolutely delighted that they have chosen to be powered by Apple technology, and we are confident that they will soon reap rich benefits through the implementation of Apple's leading range of solutions from the MacBook Pro to the XSan."

by MacNN Staff

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ibugv4
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11/20, 10:56am | report spam | close Reply |
if only

we could see it in the US. No carriers are playing it, which is sad, I'd like to believe that they are not going to be an Anti-US station but an actual unbiased network.

fritzw1957
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11/20, 10:59am | report spam | close Reply |
You've GOT to be kidding!

"an actual unbiased network"

What are you smokin'? Al-Jazeera is anything BUT friendly to peace loving nations. They do NOTHING but PROMOTE anti-Semitism! (No, I'm not Jewish)

Apple should NOT sell to these a$$holes.

mgpalma
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Joined: Sep 2000

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11/20, 11:01am | report spam | close Reply |
re:actual unbiased networ

an actual unbiased network, THAT would be a refreshing change.

Zkatz007
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Joined: May 1999

0

11/20, 11:04am | report spam | close Reply |
never looked better

At least one thing's for sure: Osama BinLaden will look and sound great!

gudin
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Joined: May 2000

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11/20, 11:08am | report spam | close Reply |
Al Jazeera

I agree, it'd be cool to have a point of view from someone other than the lemming-like US media. Well, except for FOX, they seem to simply and shamelessly present the blindingly extremist views and talking points of the RNC.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/11/14/fox-news-internal-memo-_n_34128.html

The rest are lemmings, and are so terrified of appearing biased, the only thing they care about is presenting what they think will be popular. No real news anymore.

But regardless of all that, it's cool that Apple is selling a fairly big contract, and getting some press for it.

suhail
Senior User

Joined: Nov 1999

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11/20, 11:16am | report spam | close Reply |
Satellite

Actually it is available via satellite. And no it is not an evil anti-semitist station. But it is disturbing to see how narrow minded some of us still are.

pascalpp
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11/20, 11:23am | report spam | close Reply |
Control Room

If you want an inside perspective, watch the documentary Control Room. Al Jazeera has been demonized by the American government and media, but really, they're just another news network, trying to cover the news that's important to them. That's their 'agenda'.

testudo
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11/20, 11:37am | report spam | close Reply |
Re: al jazeera

I agree, it'd be cool to have a point of view from someone other than the lemming-like US media.

Oh, please! Americans don't want another point of view. That would just confuse them. And if they report something different than what the American media pushes, they'll be deemed the purveyors of untruth and propoganda. The only other view we need is from Tony Snow! He'll tell us what we need to know.

And I bet they won't even cover the stuff that's important to most people in America, like TomKat's wedding, OJ's book and TV show, Paris Hilton's arrest for DUI (which, according to my newspaper, was such an important story it came on the morning news show as "Breaking News" with a "more info when we get it" tag at the end!), Britney's and K-Fed's divorce, the adoption of the entire contintent of Africa by various so-called celebrities, the latest kidnapping/murder of some pretty white girl from well-to-do parents, etc, etc, etc.

Who'd want to watch a news station that didn't cover any of those stories?????

testudo
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11/20, 11:41am | report spam | close Reply |
Re: you've got to be..

What are you smokin'? Al-Jazeera is anything BUT friendly to peace loving nations. They do NOTHING but PROMOTE anti-Semitism! (No, I'm not Jewish)

Keep in mind that Al-Jazeera International is a separate news organization from Al-Jazeera, not under the editorial control of the other. Of course, I'm sure this will be just like how FNC is not controlled by the their parent, that lefty liberal Rupert Murdoch.

gudin
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11/20, 11:44am | report spam | close Reply |
re: Control Room

Yeah, it's funny how any perpective other than the presumed accepted popular american perspective has become evil. I was amazed at how the mainstream US media virtually ignored any perspective other than the President's during the lead up to the Iraq war. There were hundreds of thousands of protesters in most major US cities, and you'd have never known it listening to CNN or any other us media outlet. Certainly not FOX, though that goes without saying.

We need more Al Jazeeras, and more actual investigative journalism. I never thought I'd want something like the BBC here, but the US media simply doesn't do its job.

broohaha22
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11/20, 11:46am | report spam | close Reply |
irony

What are you smokin'? Al-Jazeera is anything BUT friendly to peace loving nations. They do NOTHING but PROMOTE anti-Semitism! (No, I'm not Jewish)

Funny thing is that various other countries in the Arab world complain that Al-Jazeera is promoting US interests and are anti-Muslim. I'd love to watch this station to see what's being filtered out of US news on a daily basis. I already get a hint of it whenever I leave the country and watch CNN (a completely different network from what we see here in the States).

chas_m
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11/20, 11:47am | report spam | close Reply |
Glad

I'm glad to see that Al-Jazeera is making an effort to reach out to the West, and that at least most of the correspondents in this thread are fair-minded people willing to give them a chance because they know the American media outlets (ALL OF THEM!) are hopelessly locked in a bubble that ignores the views of the outside world (worse than a "left" or "right" bias, IMHO).

FWIW, my wife's family is Jewish so I am VERY sensitive to anti-semitism (and have encountered it regularly right here in the good ol' USA), but I don't find Al-Jazeera (what I've seen of it) to be unduly anti-Semitic. They are Arab-focused, and there's a certain amount of anti-semitism that goes with that, but the network itself seems to me to try hard to be fair.

If it's available to you, watch for a while and make up your own mind -- but I warn you, you may be shocked to finally find out exactly how bad things REALLY are in Iraq.

Judge_Fire
Mac Elite

Joined: Jan 2001

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11/20, 11:49am | report spam | close Reply |
Been watching it

I've been watching it for a couple days now and have to say it's quite refreshing.

For example, they ran an interesting story following a young Rabbi who actively worked with Palestinians in trouble- so far I've seen more of pro-semitism, actually.

I'm impressed by their launch quality, there are far less rough edges than one would expect from a new channel. (Granted, they are an experienced production company, but still.)

dynsight
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11/20, 12:01pm | report spam | close Reply |
Fair News

A-J is owned in part by the Qatar government. A small oil wealthy (but not rich) nation. They are interested in presenting ALL sides to an issue, and do many pro US and Pro Isreal stories. HOWEVER, the only ones that make the US news are the anti-US ones.

Check out npr.org for an overview.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6491389

christophersj
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11/20, 12:21pm | report spam | close Reply |
There were millions

" There were hundreds of thousands of protesters in most major US cities, and you'd have never known it listening to CNN or any other us media outlet. "

Actually there were MILLIONS (the best estimate I have seen is around 12-20 MILLION)-- all over the world, and at the same time. February 15th, 2003.

-Christopher S. Johnson

Carrier Wave
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11/20, 12:33pm | report spam | close Reply |
Al-Jazeera English

FYI: A week or so ago the channel officially changed the name of the channel from Al-Jazeera International to Al-Jazeera English.

boazh
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11/20, 12:42pm | report spam | close Reply |
I wondn't tell my friends

...that Al-Jazeera is running Macs. Shame. Who said they're unbiased? Their report of the Israeli-Hizbullah war was totally twisted!

boris_cleto
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Joined: Sep 2002

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11/20, 12:55pm | report spam | close Reply |
O'Reilly on iPods

I wonder if this is why Bill O'Reilly thinks iPods are a threat to America.

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/11/20/oreilly-ipod/

Robb
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11/20, 12:58pm | report spam | close Reply |
Eisner was right!

I guess Michael Eiser was right when he referred to Steve Jobs as a turban wearing terriorist. =D

gudin
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11/20, 01:01pm | report spam | close Reply |
re: There were millions

Well, my post said in US cities, not all over the world. I expect the US media to ignore the world. The fact that they also ignored hundreds of thousands of americans in each of the largest US cities was even worse. They presented the war as if everyone in the US was for it, which was never close to true, not even at the beginning.

In fact, their presentation of it, in my opinion, helped prevent the other side from getting its fair opportunity to be heard, and thereby kept people in the middle from making a properly informed opinion. That is what the media should be doing, informing us, checking the government's story in an effort to keep them a little more honest, etc.

Instead, they completely dropped the ball and presented only one side, the side they thought would be more popular, and less likely to result in their being accused of bias. They charged off the cliff like lemmings, and now tens (hundreds?) of thousands of lives later, where are we?

We need to see the other side, and we need to re-create ethics and investigation in journalism.

ClevelandAdv
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11/20, 01:25pm | report spam | close Reply |
Unbiased?

My problem with Al-Jazera is they give Al-Qaeda and other know terrrorist organizations of forum from which to spew their hate-filled rants. I think any credible news agency has a moral obligation to weigh the benefit of airing such material. Al-Jazera obviously has decided it is ok to show this material on a regular basis. I would have the same issue if a US news agency aired "kill all non-Christians" videos - it would be deplorable. Any of you thinking all US news agencies are pro US have not been paying attention.

dashiel
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11/20, 01:38pm | report spam | close Reply |
re: unbiased?

I would have the same issue if a US news agency aired "kill all non-Christians" videos - it would be deplorable. Any of you thinking all US news agencies are pro US have not been paying attention.

so you don't watch fox news then? and i quote "We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity"

btw, when you've been to the middle east and seen with your own eyes what goes on there, then you can make claims about US news agencies being pro or anti US. i have.

xntrick
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11/20, 01:41pm | report spam | close Reply |
smart move actually

the switch will make it that much harder for hackers to do their dirty work...

nedlohs
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11/20, 02:20pm | report spam | close Reply |
BBC

It is kind of interesting to hear what other countries report for news related to the US and other World events. It doesn't mean they are any better, just different.

gudin
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11/20, 02:48pm | report spam | close Reply |
re: unbiased

I didn't say pro-US, I said pro-President. The two are pretty much opposites as far as I am concerned. Though the President may be a true believer enough to actually believe he is doing what is right, any open minded person with half a brain can see he is not.

And it's true that other than FOX, US mainstream news occasionally questions the President now . . . . the polls indicate that he's unpopular. They are Lemmings.

They SHOULD present multiple points of view all the time, and SHOULD actually check the facts and call the President and his minions (or anyone else) when they make absurd statements, but they don't. The US media's version of objectivity is to have one side state it's position, even if it's filled with ridiculously absurd factually inaccurate things, then have someone else state the other side. There is no fact checking, no questioning of the pundits or talking heads, etc. No one calls them on it when they are demonstrably lying.

At least with Al Jazeera, and other foreign news agencies, some of us get to hear what other points of view are.

corsair
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11/20, 03:32pm | report spam | close Reply |
Unbiased?

There is no such thing as unbiased media. All media have a bias of some kind, even if it isn't intentional. The biggest mistake you can make is watching only one media outlet because you can become biased without knowing it. As others have pointed out, Al-Jazeera is not considered 100% "patriotic" by the Arab world.

The percentage of stories based on of crime, accidents, disaster, and tragedy in "unbiased" American news programs is so high that you almost wonder why they are trying so hard to make America look like an undesirable place to live. The frequency with TV news and newspapers report murders makes it sound like the average American should be seeing one every day. Why does Fox News hate America?

ADeweyan
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11/20, 03:49pm | report spam | close Reply |
Hmm...

... will this be enough to get Rush to switch to Windows?

ppayne
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11/20, 09:20pm | report spam | close Reply |
BBC

Watch or listen to the BBC, it's a refreshing look at the news most of the time.

Macintosh Sauce
Junior Member

Joined: Oct 2006

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11/20, 09:35pm | report spam | close Reply |
re: testudo

Are you a 'tard or what? Not all Americans have such a narrow outlook on things like you are describing. Stop generalizing please...

climacs
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11/21, 09:00am | report spam | close Reply |
al-Foxeera

What are you smokin'? Al-Jazeera is anything BUT friendly to peace loving nations. They do NOTHING but PROMOTE anti-Semitism! (No, I'm not Jewish)

Al-Jazeera is just Fox News Channel for Arabs. Grow up people. Seeing the world through other people's eyes will not turn you into a terrorist. Being ignorant and afraid of other points of view will turn you into an American Idiot, however.

climacs
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11/21, 09:02am | report spam | close Reply |
re: testudo

to answer your question, yes testudo is a 'tard.

cebritt
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11/21, 09:48am | report spam | close Reply |
Telemundo first

Down here in Texas they offer Second Audio Program (SAP) in Spanish for the English stations but not English for the Spanish stations. That doesn't seem right to me. I always wonder what those hot babes and the overweight host are laughing about.

So I'd rather have Telemundo in English than Al Jazeera. Chicks in burqas just can't compete with those Mexican hotties...

MuppetFloss
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11/21, 11:52am | report spam | close Reply |
Macs economical

It doesn't seem atypical that Al Jazeera are depending on a Mac workflow. A lot of broadcasters do. I know the BBC does, for example (and Al Jazeera was their baby). Macs are too economical for broadcasters to ignore.

Al Jazeera actually has a pretty good reputation throughout the world. Certainly better than some US news media (Think FOX :-) In fact, it would seem likely that the antagonism felt toward Al Jazeera is mostly the result of propaganda in the US news media. "Dang it! We hit Al Jazeera again!" (Maybe they use Windows for targeting - there's a handy excuse.)

It's important to keep in mind that the rest of the world does not get the same news as the US does. Sometimes in foreign places like Canada, the UK, the EU - we get the opposite news. For example, that would explain why people might burst out laughing if you begin a rant about Hugo Chavez. In our news, Chavez is a social democrat with huge popular support. In your news, it seems he's some kind of evil communist tyrant whose people need 'liberating.'

Similarly, in our news (UK), Al Jazeera is an independent news network who won't stop acting like it's the Vietnam era, and who might arguably be a legitimate target. While in US news, Al Jazeera is an Arabic propaganda network who is arguably a legitimate bombing target. See the differences?

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Al Jazeera switches to Macs

updated 10:45 am EST, Mon November 20, 2006

Al Jazeera Intl. switches

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