XIII. Internet Cafe

An Internet cafe or cybercafe is a place where one can use a computer with Internet

access for a fee, usually per hour or minute; sometimes one can have unmetered

access with a pass for a day or month, etc. It may or may not serve as a regular cafe

as well, with food and drinks being served.

History.

The concept and name, Cybercafe, was invented at the beginning of 1994 by Ivan

Pope. Commissioned to develop an Internet event for an arts weekend at the

Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, Pope wrote a proposal outlining the

concept of a cafe with Internet access from the tables. The event was run over the

weekend of March 12-13 1994 during the 'Towards the Aesthetics of the Future'

event.

In June 1994, The Binary Cafe, Canada's first Internet cafe, opened in Toronto,

Ontario. During the 5th International Symposium on Electronic Art, ISEA, in

August 1994, an establishment called CompuCafe was established in Helsinki,

Finland, featuring both Internet access and a robotic beer seller.

Inspired partly by the ICA event, a commercial establishment of this type, called

Cyberia, opened on September 1, 1994 in London, England. The first American

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Internet cafe, the Internet Cafe, opened in early 1995 in the East Village neighborhood of New York City.

Characteristics. Internet cafes are located world-wide, and many people use them when traveling to access webmail and instant messaging sendees to keep in touch with family and friends. Apart from travelers, in many developing countries Internet cafes are the primary form of Internet access for citizens as a shared-access model is more affordable than personal ownership of equipment. A variation on the Internet cafe business model is the LAN gaming center, used for multiplayer gaming. These cafes have several computer stations connected to a LAN (local area network). The connected computers are custom-assembled for gameplay, supporting popular multiplayer games. This is reducing the need for video arcades and arcade games, many of which are being closed down or merged into Internet cafes. The use of Internet cafes for multiplayer gaming is particularly popular in certain areas of Asia like China, Taiwan and Japan.

There are also Internet kiosks •- Internet access points in public places like public libraries, airport halls, sometimes just for brief use while standing. Many hotels, resorts, and cruise ships offer Internet access for the convenience of their guests; this can take various forms, such as in-room wireless access, or a web browser that uses the in-room television set for its display (usually in this case the hotel provides a wireless keyboard on the assumption that the guest will use it from the bed), or computer(s) that guests can use, either in the lobby or in a business center. As with telephone service, in the US most mid-price hotels offer Internet access from a computer in the lobby to registered guests without charging an additional fee, while fancier hotels are more likely to charge for the use of a computer in their «business center».

For those traveling by road in North America, many track stops have Internet kiosks, for which a typical charge is around 25 cents per minute. Internet cafes are a natural evolution of the traditional cafe. Cafes started as places for information exchange, and have always been used as places to read the paper, send postcards home, play traditional or electronic games, chat to friends, find out local information. Cafes have also been in the forefront of promoting new technologies, for example, the car in 1950s California.

Internet cafes come in a wide range of styles, reflecting their location, main clientele, and sometimes, the social agenda of the proprietors. In the early days they were important in projecting the image of the Internet as a 'cool' phenomena. To combat terrorism, Italian government requires positive identification from all users of Internet cafes.

As Internet access is in increasing demand, many pubs, bars and cafes have terminals, so the distinction between the Internet cafe and normal cafe is eroded. In some, particularly European countries, the number of pure Internet cafes is decreasing since more and more normal cafes offer the same services. However, there are European countries where the total number of publicly accessible terminals is also decreasing. An example of such a country is Germany. The cause of this development is a combination of complicated regulation, relatively high internet penetration rates, the widespread use of notebooks and PDAs and the relatively high number of WLAN hotspots. Many pubs, bars and cafes in Germany offer WLAN, but no terminals since the Internet cafe regulations do not apply if no terminal is offered. Additionally, the use of Internet cafes for multiplayer gaming is very difficult in Germany since the Internet cafe regulations and a second type of regulations which was originally established for video arcade centers applies to this kind of Internet cafes. It is, for example, forbidden for people under the age of 18 to enter such an Internet cafe, although particularly people under 18 are an important group of customers for this type of Internet cafe.

In places with censoring regimes such as Singapore, Internet cafes are closely controlled. In some places computers are in booths to allow private access to pornography. In some areas of Los Angeles they are controlled because they attract street gangs. While most Internet cafes are private businesses many have been set up to help bridge the "digital divide", providing computer access and training to those without home access. For example, the UK government has supported the setting up of 6000 telecentres.

Tasks:

1. Here are some answers. What are the questions? In 1994 by Ivan Pope.

To access webmail and to keep in touch with family or friends. This is reducing the need for video arcades and arcade games.

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For the convenience of their guests.

To combat terrorism.

Since the Internet cafe regulations.

Because they attract street gangs. 2. Here are the four headings from the text. History of an internet cafe. Its main characteristics. Different kinds of an internet cafe. Internet cafe regulations.

« Use them to retell the main points of the text.

• Use headings to help you to talk about one of the favourite internet cafe in your city.