Internet Cafe Culture?

[Rubber Duck]

My question is to what extent will this affect the adoption of IDN?

It seems to me that to remain commercially competitive there is going to be massive pressure on the Internet Cafes to upgrade to Vista. If they are seen as out of touch or uncool they are quickly going to be out of business. There is also a much higher level of social interaction between web browsers where Internet Cafe culture is strong, or at least that would be my assumption. The combination of these two factors would seem to me to be a major driver for the faster adoption of IDN. Any thoughts?

[Drewbert]

Well, all the Internet cafe's I've seen here (and there are LOTS of them, at least one per block) are probably running unlicensed versions and they certainly don't have, not can afford, the sort of machine required to run Vista.

[Beamerboy]

Originally Posted by Rubber Duck

My question is to what extent will this affect the adoption of IDN?

It seems to me that to remain commercially competitive there is going to be massive pressure on the Internet Cafes to upgrade to Vista. If they are seen as out of touch or uncool they are quickly going to be out of business.

Sorry RD I disagree, (now that doesn't happen often)
If ALL internet cafes stay with "windows" ppl will not go else where, there will be nowhere else to go. The main reason ppl use these cafes is because they do not have internet access at home. The only advantage to upgrade to Vista is if you have two internet cafes close to each other.

I can see the cafes upgrading to Vista as part of their normal progression, but i think they will wait until service pack 2 comes out at least, (just to have most of the bugs ironed out). After all they won't want downtime on their cash generators will they?







"or at least that would be my assumption."
Famous quote from Tommy Lee Jones "Assumtion is the mother of all F*#kups"

[touchring]

Internet cafes are almost non-existent at my place. But there are plenty of LAN gaming shops in town.

[Rubber Duck]

Internet cafes like laundrettes are not a sign of affluence. Laundrettes have all but disappeared in the UK over last twenty years.

[touchring]

Originally Posted by Rubber Duck

Internet cafes like laundrettes are not a sign of affluence. Laundrettes have all but disappeared in the UK over last twenty years.

Believe me or not, it's also hard to find an internet cafe in chinese cities, at least those that i visited, i can walk on main streets for hrs and not see one. Might be they are disguised to avoid detection by the authorities.

[Rubber Duck]

Well, now I am very confused. I was given to believe that they were a main stay of the Chinese Internet. Perhaps someone can throw a bit more light on this?

[touchring]

Originally Posted by Rubber Duck

Well, now I am very confused. I was given to believe that they were a main stay of the Chinese Internet. Perhaps someone can throw a bit more light on this?

bbc and cnn?? you got to consider surfing at work as well.

[Rubber Duck]

Internet cafés in China

According to “Survey of China Internet Café Industry” by the Ministry of Culture, in 2005: China has 110,000 Internet cafes, with more than 1,000,000 people working in this area, contributing 18,500,000,000 Yuan to China’s GDP. More than 70% Internet café visitors are from 18 years old to 30. 90% are male, 65% unmarried, 54% hold college degree or higher. More than 70% visitors play computer games. 20% of China’s Internet users go to InternetCafe.

Milestones:

* Before 1995. An Internet Café called 3C+T appeared in Shanghai, suspected as the first one in China (Chinese people are still looking for the first Internet Cafe). Price: 20 Yuan per hour
* 1995~1998. China's Internet Cafés reached a period of fast development. Playing unconnected games is the main purpose of café users. Price: 15~20 Yuan per hour
* 1998~2000. Booming era of Internet cafes. Competition became more and more fierce.
* 2000~2002. Booming era of Internet games. First Internet chain café occurred in 2001. Nine people were killed in an Internet café fire in Beijing in June, 2002. A new regulation was released by the state government, giving the Ministry of Culture full responsibility of licensing Internet cafes.
* After 2002, heavy censorships were imposed, including real name registration. At the end of 2004, more than 70,000 Internet cafes were closed in a nationwide campaign.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_cafe

[touchring]

I think they are talking about LAN gaming centers.