Does it make sense to convert cars into offices?

Chris Elley's office on wheels draws mixed reactions from readers. Other topics: Islamic State, supercars

Chris Elley’s idea to convert his car into an office has elicited mixed reactions from readers. Satish Kumar / The National

I refer to the article Dubai businessman converts Cadillac Escalade into a luxury mobile office (August 9).It's a great but expensive, gas-guzzling solution and defeats the concept of using the power of technology to minimise travel.

I’m not sure what services he offers, but our IT contractor sparingly visits our office, instead leveraging the internet to log on to our server, laptops and PCs to configure and reconfigure applications and fix problems.

One has to read Thomas Friedman’s book, The World is Flat, to understand that people can conduct business between countries, thousands of miles apart, from a PC.

No longer do we need to jump on a plane to visit clients. The availability of low-cost communication applications such as Skype allows us to communicate from a fixed location. Other applications powered by the internet allow us to share documents in real time.

Spending all that money on a vehicle does not help reduce the carbon footprint and instead the money could have been spent on technology to allow easy access to his clients.

Randall Mohammed, Dubai

To have this kind of an office on wheels, one should have a clear idea of what one needs and whether it will be feasible to invest in such a unique product.While it is a fact that a lot of time is wasted just wading through traffic queues, coming up with such a solution is not everybody’s cup of tea.

However, this customised car that now serves as an office is likely to have a lasting impression on clients.

Moreover, who would not love to work in a place as cosy and comfy as this car?

Fatima Suhail, Sharjah

This is ideal for someone who works in the property business, especially in leasing.

You can take clients for viewing and in between you can process their contracts or get in touched with your main office to prepare offer letters or lease agreements. It’s ideal for me.

Agnes Aquino-Briggs, Dubai

Looking at the crazy cost of office rent and furniture in Dubai, this is a great move.

Romain Saada, Mauritius

Region can solve its own problems

Any suggestion that the Iraq conflict is first and foremost for the countries in the region to resolve is immediately discarded as naive and unrealistic (Islamic State must be beaten before it gets too powerful, August 10). But why? Because they don't have the capability?

Judging from their military expenditures over the years, they certainly should by now.

Jan-Hendrik van Leeuwen, US

Why always leave it to American intervention? It’s about time regional countries take care of their own backyard.

Tom Plant, Dubai

No one wants America’s intervention. Yet, somehow America is almost miraculously always found in the Arabian backyards.

We’ve seen what America’s “intervention” has done to the Middle East in the last decade. We’ve seen the catastrophic repercussions it has had on Palestine, thanks to its incessant funding of the Israeli defence forces.

Sydra Malik, Dubai

In my opinion, the extent of damage done is already unimaginable. What sort of history will our children come to learn – people heartlessly massacred because they’re Christians? Is this what the removal of dictators has brought us?

Fahed Maaouia, Tunisia

People can spend the way they want

I am commenting on the car photo gallery on Facebook (Wealthy Arab tourists show off supercars on the streets of London, August 10). The cars look very nice. There is no reason why people cannot spend their hard-earned money on cars. Wars and hungry people are always going to be there in this world. That doesn't mean we should all sit in the corner and be miserable.

After all, these are the people that are donating money to the hungry and the war-hit in various parts of the world.

Ameerah Jolene-Ann van Heerden, Dubai