Click to see the full comic.
The blogosphere is boiling over with rage at the news that the Lebanese government may ban several voice-over-IP (VoIP) services this week in a crass move to boost revenue for the Telecommunications Ministry.
Here at Qifa Nabki, we’re wondering what all the fuss is about. Surely there are alternatives to Skype, no? Are we so addicted to the Internet that we’ve lost the capacity to communicate using other means? Click the image to the right to see what Maya Zankoul and I came up with…
[For previous collaborations between Qifa Nabki and Maya, click here.]
Qifa Nabki 
The alternatives fail. The letter would be lost, the pigeon shot and the call dropped (after which you will be disconnected anyway for not being able to secure a loan from the IMF in order to pay the bill)
Posted by mo | June 14, 2010, 7:41 pm…the pigeon shot…
LOL. Good one.
But if Lebanon is anything like it was in my day…the pigeon is more likely to be “stolen” by a competing pigeon wrangler (or whatever they call those guys who have the pigeons living on their roofs and circling the neighborhood).
Posted by Bad Vilbel | June 14, 2010, 7:56 pmhaha, that’s a nice one!!!
Posted by dodosays | June 15, 2010, 1:25 amLol BV , I was assuming it wouldn’t be so lazy that it would stop on another roof before leaving the country!
Posted by mo | June 15, 2010, 1:33 amThe whole culture of “limiting” a certain technology because we are way too lazy to adapt to changes is despicable. It pushes us further and further to the bottom of the failed countries list!
Posted by Caustic | June 15, 2010, 1:54 amI love the traditional letter part of the drawing 🙂
I’m old enough to remember writing those letters to my friends when I was in high school… we used to expect a reply a month or two later. And that was just fine. Today, we NEED a response to our emails within minutes of sending them.
If we do not get it, we send a text message asking “Are you ok??? … I sent you an email more than 5 minutes ago and still have not heard back from you!”
By the way, if you need to talk for an hour or more, it might be worth it to drive to the Syrian border and call from Cafe right across the border (assuming they have WIFI)
Posted by Alex | June 15, 2010, 12:48 pmMessage from Minister of Telecommunication, Dr Charbel Nahas: Your message on VOIP has been heard. Listen to minister Nahas’ answer tomorrow Saturday 19 June @10:00 am on Sawt el Mada, 92.5 FM.
Posted by mansour | June 18, 2010, 3:50 pmHello
I saw on TV about development in Lebanon (banking, housing, etc) I was thinking to go to Lebanon for Holiday and explore business opportunities in the marble industry.
After reading the above comments there is a long way to go until I will risk my money.
Good luck people.
Posted by P Anderson | August 10, 2010, 5:48 am