Gazprom and the Gaiety of the Nation - Again

Gazprom doesn't sound like the sort of organisation to raise a chuckle, but inadvertently it often does and here's a cracker.  From the DTel: 

Russian gas giant Gazprom has set aside 119.7m rubles (£2.4m) to buy a specially-made tablet for chief executive Alexei Miller ...the gadget must be based on Apple's iOS operating system and boot up in no more than five seconds. It should feature 3G, GPRS and Wi-Fi, and be able to download data in less than 15 seconds. The tablet must also be secure in order to protect sensitive company data. Mr Miller will use the bespoke tech to monitor Gazprom's day-to-day operations, including gas output and exports, to ensure “management decision making on raising Gazprom’s efficiency"

Yes, he needs something really, really special, and he's pleased that everyone should know about it.

In the '90s I was a regular visitor to Gazprom's Moscow HQ (in fact, I had a pass to the building, obtained for me by ... ahem, well that's for another time).  Whenever visiting managers of a certain grade, one had to suppress a smile at the equipment they clearly considered essential to prove their status.  As well as the obvious PC, in their personal offices they all had:

• a Sony portable TV with integral VHS-player
• a large fax machine
• a large printer
• a very large photocopier (guys,that's, errr, the opposite of a status symbol)
• two phones on the desk, one of them Red - for direct calls from The Top

This shiny new tablet will certainly set Mr Miller apart nicely !  While he's at it, perhaps he'd like one of those clever hand-held meter-reading devices ...

ND