Mac, meet Israel

In Israel, when inquiring about Macintosh computers, no one seems to have any answers - or at least they pretend not to.

By ILANA DIAMOND
In Israel, when inquiring about Macintosh computers, no one seems to have any answers - or at least they pretend not to. Good luck, also, trying to get quality technical support for Mac products here. There also is no Microsoft Office software for Macs in Hebrew as there is for PCs. "It's not so popular," Lior Adar, customer relations manager for Microsoft Israel tells The Jerusalem Post. Yet it's difficult to see how he would know this considering that Apple does not keep statistics on how many Mac users there are in a particular country. Recently rumors circulated that Yeda, Apple's partner in Israel, had offered to co-sponsor a project with Microsoft to develop Office for Mac in Hebrew, but when quoted a price, Yeda backed out. Yeda refused to comment to the Post on the rumor's validity. Yeda CEO Itzik Radishkovitz also declined to disclose any future plans to bring more Hebrew software for Macs into the country. A few companies, such as Double You (u-u.co.il) and Yeda (yeda.co.il), however, have been working with Apple to make its products and technical support more accessible here. Owner of Double You, Tal Zilberstein, tells the Post that his venture in bringing iPods and iPod support to Israel has been very successful, and that Apple has been very cooperative and helpful. Yeda, meanwhile, expressed its desire to open an Apple store here telling the Post: "We are looking for a place, but right now it is difficult." Although Apple has continuously refused to comment on why technical support is so sparse here; why iPods can't read Hebrew; and why Apple products cannot be purchased in Israel directly from Apple.com, one can see that Apple is making progress here, albeit slowly. It now sells a Hebrew language pack to make up for the lack of Office software, and songs on iTunes can now be purchased with an Israeli credit card. Now if only they would bring the iPhone to us.