Internet Cafe Survey

messianic light wrote:

Thank you Shawn,
when you don't have your laptop with you, do you consider going into
an Internet Cafe to check your email or surf for some information?

There are so many places with free computers that there is really no
need. I.e. I was at a trade show last week in Taipei. All over the trade
show floor there were free computers to use. In the hotel they charged
about $3 a day for access, but they also had a rental computer in the lobby.

These days, it's almost expected that a cafe will provide free wireless.
The cafe needs to make its money selling other items, such as food and
drinks.

I might have paid something less than the hotel's $3 a day for an hour
of wireless access in a cafe. But all the internet cafes seem to have
disappeared. I think people that need to check their mail all the time
are using their cell phone, Treo, or Blackberry.

it is a matter of attracting business customers and professionals who
want time away from the office but need to do some surfing, along with
attracting the many people in the UK, at least, who don't have access at home...

In your original post you asked how often folks here use internet
cafes, and most folks replied that they use them little or not at all.
Maybe the answer would be different if you spoke to folks who lived
other countries, so you might want to post your question to newsgroups
that discuss foreign travel rather than U.S./Canada travel.

Like I said in a previous post, I think Internet Cafes are a declining
business. Maybe if you picked your spots carefully it could work, but
I think it's a risky business to go into, unless the cafe was so good
that it would thrive even if few people used it for anything but
eating.