Internet Cafe

An Internet café, also known as a cybercafé, is a café (or a convenience store or a fully dedicated Internet access business) that provides the use of computers with high bandwidth Internet access on the payment of a fee. Usage is generally charged by the minute or part of hour. An Internet cafe will generally also offer refreshments or other services such as phone repair. Internet cafes are often hosted within a shop or other establishment. They are located worldwide, and many people use them when traveling to access webmail and instant messaging services to keep in touch with family and friends. Apart from travelers, in many developing countries Internet cafés are the primary form of Internet access for citizens as a shared-access model is more affordable than personal ownership of equipment and/or software. Internet cafés are a natural evolution of the traditional café. As Internet access rose many pubs, bars and cafés added terminals eroding the distinction between the Internet café and normal cafés.

internet cafe

By 2010, the rising popularity of internet-connected smartphones started having a major economic impact on internet cafes. It has been estimated that the number of internet cafes in South Korea dropped 17% from 19,000 in 2010 to 15,800 in 2012, and internet cafes in developing countries were struggling to grow.[10]

In China, a 2011 government report stated that 130,000 internet cafes had closed down over the previous six years, due to tightening regulations, which brought the number down to 144,000.[11] One industry consultant estimated the number had reached 136,000 in 2012.[12]

In some locations, however, internet cafes continued to be used for reasons ranging from evading gambling regulations to building communities of language learners.[13] As of 2021, internet cafes are still operating in South Korea for the purposes of online gaming.[14]

A variation on the Internet café business model is the LAN gaming center, used for multiplayer gaming. These cafés have several computer stations connected to a LAN. 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 cafés. The use of Internet cafés for multiplayer gaming is particularly popular in certain areas of Asia like India, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea and the Philippines. In some countries, since practically all LAN gaming centers also offer Internet access, the terms net cafe and LAN gaming center have become interchangeable. Again, this shared-access model is more affordable than personal ownership of equipment and/or software, especially since games often require high end and expensive PCs.

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, tablets and smartphones and the relatively high number of wireless internet hotspots. Many pubs, bars and cafés in Germany offer wireless Internet, but no terminals since the Internet café regulations do not apply if no terminal is offered. Additionally, the use of Internet cafés for multiplayer gaming is very difficult in Germany since the Internet café regulations and a second type of regulations which was originally established for video arcade centres applies to this kind of Internet cafés. It is, for example, forbidden for people under the age of 18 to enter such an Internet café, although particularly people under 18 are an important group of customers for this type of Internet café.

Netcafe opened in St Kilda at the Deluxe Café on April 4, 1995, inspired by the Internet café phenomenon that was going on in Seattle. As Australia's first Internet café, founders included Gavin Murray, Rita Arrigo and Christopher Beaumont. Direct from London's Cyberia they were joined by Kathryn Phelps and partnerships with Adam Goudie of Standard Computers for hardware and Michael Bethune from Australia Online, Australia's first ISP for of course their Internet access. In 1995 it was delivered via a standard analogue phone line using a 9600-Baud US Robotics Modem. Cafe.on.net also opened on Rundle Street in Adelaide in 1995, with the support of Internode's Simon Hackett. The Cafe was founded by John Ruciak, and was notable because of its 100Mb ethernet connection.[citation needed]

In 2008, there were 180,000 cyber cafes in India but by 2017, it declined to 50,000, one of primary reasons for decline was rules of IT Act, which caused licensing issues and other restrictions.[23][24]

According to APWKomitel[25] (Association of Community Internet Center), there are 5,000 Internet cafés in urban Indonesian cities in 2006 providing computer/printer/scanner rentals, training, PC gaming and Internet access/rental to people without computer or internet access. The website[26] also contains a directory listing some of these warnet/telecenter/gamecenter in Indonesia. In urban areas, the generic name is warnet (or warung Internet) and in rural areas the generic name is telecenter. Warnets/netcafes are usually privately owned as bottom-up initiatives, while telecenters in rural villages are typically government or donor-funded as top-down financing. Information on netcafe/warnet in Indonesia can also be found in a book titled: Connected for Development: Indonesian Case study.[27]

Japan has a strong Internet cafe culture, with most serving a dual purpose as joint Internet-manga cafes. Most chains (like Media Cafe Popeye and Jiyū Kūkan) allow offer customers a variety of seating options, including normal chair, massage chair, couch, and flat mat. Customers are then typically given unlimited access to soft drinks, manga, magazines, Internet, online video games, and online pornography. Most offer food and shower services for an additional fee. In fact, many purchase "night packs" and shower/sleep in the cafes, giving rise to a phenomenon known as "net cafe refugee" or "net cafe homeless".[30]

In the Philippines, Internet cafés or better known as computer shops are found on almost every street in major cities and there is at least one in most municipalities or towns. There are also Internet cafés in coffee shops and malls. High-end restaurants and fast food chains also provide free broadband to diners,rarely some internet cafés offers to make a gadget repairs, print or xerox copy, and other services. Rates range from P10 ($0.20 per hour or less based from PC specifications) on streets, up to P100 ($2 per hour) in malls.In some major cities with existing ordinances regulating Internet cafés (e.g. Valenzuela, Marikina, Davao, Lapu-lapu and Zamboanga), students who are below 18 years of age are prohibited from playing computer games during regular class hours. Depending on the city, regulations varies on their exact details and implementation.[31] Such city ordinances usually also requires Internet café owners to:

Internet cafés were prevalent in the 1990s but began to decline in popularity due to the expansion of home-based email and internet access points, and the later deployment of Wi-Fi and smartphones. As of 2022, LAN gaming centers can be found in metropolitan areas in the United States. Gaming centers are not as popular in the U.S. compared to East Asia. Like those in Asia, gaming centers typically offer Internet access, food, and drinks.

Public internet access isn't limited to cafe-style establishments anymore. You'll find computers with public internet access in copy centers, hotels, airports, on cruise ships, and more. Many places offer printing and scanning services, as well.

Computer use in China is quite different from that in industrialized countries. Since relatively few Chinese owned computers at home in the early 2000s, most youths went to internet cafés to get online and play games [8,9]. As a result of what appeared to be an alarming rise in the number of youths spending time in internet cafés, governments at all levels initiated regulations to curb illegal internet cafés and censor unhealthy online information [10]. However, driven by profits, many internet cafés still operated illegally and attracted young customers with very low costs and availability of longer opening hours [11]. A key concern regarding the health impact of internet cafés usage is the extent to which their use may be associated with cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption among Chinese adolescents and youth.

It is well documented that widespread smoking has been a serious public health problem in China for a number of years [13]. This is particularly the case for adolescents who because of their earlier exposure to smoking may experience worse health consequences overtime. Even if individuals in internet café do not smoke, they are exposed to a considerable amount of secondhand smoking.

In this study we have identified the use of computers in internet cafés as an important environmental factor that influences youth smoking and drinking behaviors. Although youth can access the computer in three types of environments-café only, home only, or both, the use of computer at home only or on both settings had no effect on smoking and drinking while the use of computers in cafés only was a strong predictor of smoking among males and drinking among females. The differences we observed in smoking/drinking among these three settings raise interesting questions regarding the extent to which characteristics of the setting itself (i.e., availability of cigarettes and alcohol) and of the people who frequent these establishments (i.e., more prone to engage in high-risk taking behaviors) influence the behaviors of the other patrons. More research is needed to examine the mechanisms under which the setting and the people, perhaps jointly, impact the behaviors of others. 041b061a72