Internet Cafe is Dead
Privileged! That is what I am, privileged to have a
computer and an internet account that enables me to hook up with the world. This hit me when I thought of the
preposterous idea that we don’t need the internet café anymore.
It all started when I visited an
upscale building one Sunday to look at a three bed-roomed apartment that was on
sale, with a price tag I cannot afford.
The advertisement in the paper said the building has a gym, regular café
and an internet café.
Yes, but the internet café was empty
because when it was built, it never occurred to the developer that we would
have the internet at our fingertips, courtesy of Android phones.
Technology never sleeps. It is always scheming to make our current
toys redundant in two months. The
internet café was empty because residents in that building are privileged like
me.
I was tempted to come to the
conclusion that the internet café is going to be extinct very soon like the
sugar bowl (blame the diet craze), butter dish (blame cholesterol), teapot
(blame teabags) table cloth (blame pizza), writing paper and envelopes (blame
e-mail), rotary dial phone (blame touch screen phones), vinyl records and audio
cassettes (blame iTunes, CD’s and iPod), fax machines (blame e-mail), and books
(blame Amazon Kindle).
The reality of the matter is that the
internet café is very much alive and well in many parts of the world. Although mobile phones are everywhere, some
people still want to sit down at a computer to find stuff online.
Nonqaba waka Msimang is the author of Sweetness the Novel.
Comments