An Internet café offers high-speed Internet access for public use, with billing by the minute, hour, or subscription. They were popular in the US from 1995-2000 but have been replaced by WiFi cafes. They are useful for those without computers or high-speed Internet, travelers, and those who want to work outside the home. The first Internet café was opened in London in 1994, and although they are still popular in countries like India, WiFi cafes are more common in the US.
An Internet café serves a bank of computers with high-speed Internet access for public consumption. The customer is billed by the minute or by the hour or could purchase a monthly subscription. The Internet cafe might also serve food and drinks, but that’s not always the case. These cafes peaked in popularity in the United States between 1995 and 2000, but have mostly been replaced by WiFi cafes.
A kind of internet café that persists to a lesser extent is geared towards multiplayer gaming, but generally the cafés were intended for surfing the net. This could mean collecting emails, doing research, or just browsing the World Wide Web.
Those who don’t have computers at home are obvious potential customers for an Internet café, while others may have computers but lack access to high-speed Internet. It can be much faster, for example, to download software or media files to a memory stick using an Internet café computer, than to sit for long periods of time in front of a dial-up connection at home. If the café serves coffee or other refreshments, even better!
An Internet café is also useful for travelers who can stop by to check emails, look up directions, or send a message to loved ones back home. Other people may simply feel like leaving the house to sit and relax undisturbed in front of a computer in comfortable surroundings. For people who don’t have portable laptops, this is a good option.
According to the online guide, Internet Café History, Londoner Eva Pascoe was the first to open an Internet café in September 1994, called Café Cyberia. Instant publicity reportedly led to heavyweights like Mick Jagger investing in the venture. It wasn’t long before Pascoe’s idea was replicated. However, as early as 1991, San Francisco’s SFNet offered a bank of networked computers that connected first to a bulletin board and then to the Internet via a 2400 baud modem.
Although Internet cafes are still very popular in countries like India, wireless technology and the accessibility of laptop computers have made Internet cafes more ubiquitous in the United States. A WiFi café broadcasts a wireless network signal throughout the facility allowing any customer to ‘up’ using their laptop with a wireless network card. While these cafes are wireless, they are sometimes referred to as wired or “hot” cafes after hotspots — or places with wireless access.
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