Internet Cafes are widely interesting to me.
Not only did they appear out of nowhere, but they did so at the perfect time to have the biggest impact (when home internet was nearly unheard-of, but business internet had already become the norm). They also vanished completely overnight, making the whole thing feel like a fever dream.
It was almost impossible showing up to an empty row of computers. During the heyday of the internet cafe era you were lucky to find enough free computers for your friends to use, let alone all together!
I haven't seen an internet cafe in more than 15 years at this point, and it's starting to become clear that I will never see one again. There's something deeply sad about the fact that the gap they had come to bridge has been not only filled, but "flown over" by the ceaseless advance of technology. They simply have no place in our modern, always-connected world anymore.
Like most things, however, I was made aware of it by my children.
Not too long ago, I took my kids for a walk around the neighborhood, and we came to the place where my favorite internet cafe once stood. Of course, being the always-nostalgic kind, I couldn't stop yapping endlessly about how much fun it was being there and how many memories were made within its walls.
They looked to me as if I was crazy.
And from their point of view? I'm sure I sounded the part.
Internet Cafes were fundamentally the same thing, but there were not two alike.
My kids were fortunate enough to be born at a time when home internet (and free WiFI spots) is pretty much everywhere, so OF COURSE they can't conceive the idea of going out of their way to rent a computer to use for a couple of hours. Having strangers looking over their shoulders as they pour their hearts and souls on AIM and MSN Messenger? As they type long, pointless posts on long-forgotten forums? As they are forced to restart the same game over and over because the machines in there would wipe out everything that had been modified after their time had run out? Pure lunacy.
I completely understand where they are coming from, but the fact remains that these things used to serve a purpose, and it's just not terribly shocking that they had all vanished after said purpose was no longer there.
I didn't actually enjoy having to walk in the rain to get to one of the many internet cafes in my area just to fight against the clock (and temptation!) to get my latest school project done before the time ran out and all my hard work would be lost to the void, but there was no other option... and we adapted quite well. That horrible office lighting that would hurt my eyes when combined with the darker rooms and extremely bright CRT monitors? The endless screams of the kids playing Counter-Strike just a few rows over? The sense of being watched? It was all part of the experience. I didn't complain about something I couldn't change and, truth be told, I kinda miss it.
I actually didn't become a regular on these stores because I was in love with the tech or the idea... no, I became a regular because my parents almost had a heart attack upon discovering that my adventures with dial-up had resulted on a, ejem, bloated phone bill that they almost couldn't pay. I was 14-years-old, and I was hooked.
This image is actually burned in my retina. Had an hour to kill? Let the deathmatches begin!
I remember coming up with all sorts of "strategies" to maximize my internet time and get all my browsing and chatting done before the "low time" sign of doom would kick me out. I almost became a ninja, logging onto MSN Messenger and finding all sorts of shortcuts to my favorite sites with little regard for who could be looking over my shoulder and taking a look at the passwords as I was inputting them (thankfully, nothing ever happened... except for one close call in which I had to return to the store immediately after exiting and I managed to log out of a site just as the next guy was taking a seat in front of the machine I had just been using). These were my afternoons for a couple of years.
Now... internet cafes were always seen as "the nerd thing", and so I was bullied quite relentlessly for being spotted on the many that were bordering my school (at one point there were SEVEN of these in about ten blocks, which is just insane), but that was easy to brush off. Just getting to sample the hottest new games on machines way better than the one I had home was worthy of all the mockery in the world... and I will always remember how much I looked forward to more extended sessions of playing GTA: Vice City on my favorite spot, because I was completely addicted to that game and I wanted nothing more than to explore the map over and over, inching my way forward with every visit. That's something I'll never experience again (at least in its purest form) and one of the reasons for which I adored the whole thing.
It didn't take long for those who ridiculed me to start becoming regulars themselves, once word had gone around regarding all the amazing games and new machines that some of the local cafes were getting equipped with. And when one of the largest ones started offering PlayStation 2 consoles to rent? No-one dared saying a thing.
I will always remember the many hours we spent killing each other on Counter-Strike 1.6 in the time between the end of the regular classes and the dreaded start of gym class. It became a ritual, and one that carried us all the way to Senior Year, when most cafes had closed down due to robberies and the advent of affordable home internet, which sort of created a perfect storm --not unlike the one that had brought these to life-- that convinced parents that it probably wasn't safe for their children to be visiting places that were so prone to being robbed when they could just keep them home instead. Internet Cafes were already rare by the time I finished high school, just four years after I had started visiting them.
Checking your email or logging on to your favorite instant messaging app in a cafe was the true definition of "bravery". You couldn't really even go to the bathroom while you had those open because there was too high a chance that someone would try to troll and annoy your contacts when you weren't looking.
But did these simply disappear? Did we find the stores vacant without any notice? No, it was actually quite gradual.
Seeing more and more empty spaces where there used to be computers (I later found out that the owners had begun selling their high-end PCs at a fraction of the price to keep the business going for a few more months, which must have made e-scavangers extraordinarily happy) was a sign of things to come. I also remember noticing how fewer and fewer people would show up at our usual hangouts after class... if home internet had started killing these, the idea of going literally everywhere just to have something to post on one's Fotolog (or equivalent social media site) proved to be the dagger to their hearts. It simply didn't pay off to stay in one place anymore, and now it wasn't needed, either... not when you could take your digital camera everywhere and then upload the pics from your own home.
It's funny how I never noticed the typo on "Cyber", despite being a regular to this particular cafe for years. What's not funny is that that sign is all that remains of one of my favorite places. The business inside is a graphic design company, they just didn't feel like swapping the logo (and I'm strangely thankful for it).
But if you are wondering how these things could stay afloat even a little longer, that's because a new kind of costumer kept the lights on in unexpected ways... I wouldn't be surprised if you don't believe me (heck, I'm having a hard time recalling this myself), but there was a crew who would actually camp inside the stores for an entire weekend, often having food delivered to them (and even sleeping on the actual floor!) just to get their gaming in. I was taken aback when I first heard about that, and the sheer shock didn't lessen with time.
Some of my classmates were actually so addicted to stuff like Ragnarok and Argentum Online that they'd just... do that. Why the stores would EVER allow people to have food (and beverages!) near their machines when they would put up an actual fight before letting you save your damn schoolwork on a floppy disk is beyond me. And what about the parents? Why would they ever greenlit this? Hadn't they just decided that these places were dangerous? Whatever the case, it was something to behold.
We were quite shocked by seeing the completely sorry state some of our classmates would have Monday morning after yet another weekend marathon on the local internet cafe. Bloodshot eyes, wrinkled uniforms and a general sense of tiredness that they couldn't hide nor shake off. It was like drugs.
I moved away from my city in 2007 and didn't return until several years later, so I actually missed most of the actual "death" of internet cafes, but it's still eerie seeing the places where they once stood -- large, box-shaped business designed to hold several rows of computers now turned into grocery stores or mini-marts. A faded sign here and there that once promised endless hours of online fun now hidden in plain sight. Even the actual name and logo of my favorite cafe still hanging atop the completely unrelated business front that has replaced it, because the new owners see no sense on spending time or money getting it taken down. There's something really sad about this whole thing... it's like an archeological site that no-one cares about.
But no matter how crazy my kids think I am, I can't deny that I had a lot of fun visiting these places. And I miss them.
What about you? Were you ever a regular on these?
Not only did they appear out of nowhere, but they did so at the perfect time to have the biggest impact (when home internet was nearly unheard-of, but business internet had already become the norm). They also vanished completely overnight, making the whole thing feel like a fever dream.
It was almost impossible showing up to an empty row of computers. During the heyday of the internet cafe era you were lucky to find enough free computers for your friends to use, let alone all together!
I haven't seen an internet cafe in more than 15 years at this point, and it's starting to become clear that I will never see one again. There's something deeply sad about the fact that the gap they had come to bridge has been not only filled, but "flown over" by the ceaseless advance of technology. They simply have no place in our modern, always-connected world anymore.
Like most things, however, I was made aware of it by my children.
Not too long ago, I took my kids for a walk around the neighborhood, and we came to the place where my favorite internet cafe once stood. Of course, being the always-nostalgic kind, I couldn't stop yapping endlessly about how much fun it was being there and how many memories were made within its walls.
They looked to me as if I was crazy.
And from their point of view? I'm sure I sounded the part.
Internet Cafes were fundamentally the same thing, but there were not two alike.
My kids were fortunate enough to be born at a time when home internet (and free WiFI spots) is pretty much everywhere, so OF COURSE they can't conceive the idea of going out of their way to rent a computer to use for a couple of hours. Having strangers looking over their shoulders as they pour their hearts and souls on AIM and MSN Messenger? As they type long, pointless posts on long-forgotten forums? As they are forced to restart the same game over and over because the machines in there would wipe out everything that had been modified after their time had run out? Pure lunacy.
I completely understand where they are coming from, but the fact remains that these things used to serve a purpose, and it's just not terribly shocking that they had all vanished after said purpose was no longer there.
I didn't actually enjoy having to walk in the rain to get to one of the many internet cafes in my area just to fight against the clock (and temptation!) to get my latest school project done before the time ran out and all my hard work would be lost to the void, but there was no other option... and we adapted quite well. That horrible office lighting that would hurt my eyes when combined with the darker rooms and extremely bright CRT monitors? The endless screams of the kids playing Counter-Strike just a few rows over? The sense of being watched? It was all part of the experience. I didn't complain about something I couldn't change and, truth be told, I kinda miss it.
I actually didn't become a regular on these stores because I was in love with the tech or the idea... no, I became a regular because my parents almost had a heart attack upon discovering that my adventures with dial-up had resulted on a, ejem, bloated phone bill that they almost couldn't pay. I was 14-years-old, and I was hooked.
This image is actually burned in my retina. Had an hour to kill? Let the deathmatches begin!
I remember coming up with all sorts of "strategies" to maximize my internet time and get all my browsing and chatting done before the "low time" sign of doom would kick me out. I almost became a ninja, logging onto MSN Messenger and finding all sorts of shortcuts to my favorite sites with little regard for who could be looking over my shoulder and taking a look at the passwords as I was inputting them (thankfully, nothing ever happened... except for one close call in which I had to return to the store immediately after exiting and I managed to log out of a site just as the next guy was taking a seat in front of the machine I had just been using). These were my afternoons for a couple of years.
Now... internet cafes were always seen as "the nerd thing", and so I was bullied quite relentlessly for being spotted on the many that were bordering my school (at one point there were SEVEN of these in about ten blocks, which is just insane), but that was easy to brush off. Just getting to sample the hottest new games on machines way better than the one I had home was worthy of all the mockery in the world... and I will always remember how much I looked forward to more extended sessions of playing GTA: Vice City on my favorite spot, because I was completely addicted to that game and I wanted nothing more than to explore the map over and over, inching my way forward with every visit. That's something I'll never experience again (at least in its purest form) and one of the reasons for which I adored the whole thing.
It didn't take long for those who ridiculed me to start becoming regulars themselves, once word had gone around regarding all the amazing games and new machines that some of the local cafes were getting equipped with. And when one of the largest ones started offering PlayStation 2 consoles to rent? No-one dared saying a thing.
I will always remember the many hours we spent killing each other on Counter-Strike 1.6 in the time between the end of the regular classes and the dreaded start of gym class. It became a ritual, and one that carried us all the way to Senior Year, when most cafes had closed down due to robberies and the advent of affordable home internet, which sort of created a perfect storm --not unlike the one that had brought these to life-- that convinced parents that it probably wasn't safe for their children to be visiting places that were so prone to being robbed when they could just keep them home instead. Internet Cafes were already rare by the time I finished high school, just four years after I had started visiting them.
Checking your email or logging on to your favorite instant messaging app in a cafe was the true definition of "bravery". You couldn't really even go to the bathroom while you had those open because there was too high a chance that someone would try to troll and annoy your contacts when you weren't looking.
But did these simply disappear? Did we find the stores vacant without any notice? No, it was actually quite gradual.
Seeing more and more empty spaces where there used to be computers (I later found out that the owners had begun selling their high-end PCs at a fraction of the price to keep the business going for a few more months, which must have made e-scavangers extraordinarily happy) was a sign of things to come. I also remember noticing how fewer and fewer people would show up at our usual hangouts after class... if home internet had started killing these, the idea of going literally everywhere just to have something to post on one's Fotolog (or equivalent social media site) proved to be the dagger to their hearts. It simply didn't pay off to stay in one place anymore, and now it wasn't needed, either... not when you could take your digital camera everywhere and then upload the pics from your own home.
It's funny how I never noticed the typo on "Cyber", despite being a regular to this particular cafe for years. What's not funny is that that sign is all that remains of one of my favorite places. The business inside is a graphic design company, they just didn't feel like swapping the logo (and I'm strangely thankful for it).
But if you are wondering how these things could stay afloat even a little longer, that's because a new kind of costumer kept the lights on in unexpected ways... I wouldn't be surprised if you don't believe me (heck, I'm having a hard time recalling this myself), but there was a crew who would actually camp inside the stores for an entire weekend, often having food delivered to them (and even sleeping on the actual floor!) just to get their gaming in. I was taken aback when I first heard about that, and the sheer shock didn't lessen with time.
Some of my classmates were actually so addicted to stuff like Ragnarok and Argentum Online that they'd just... do that. Why the stores would EVER allow people to have food (and beverages!) near their machines when they would put up an actual fight before letting you save your damn schoolwork on a floppy disk is beyond me. And what about the parents? Why would they ever greenlit this? Hadn't they just decided that these places were dangerous? Whatever the case, it was something to behold.
We were quite shocked by seeing the completely sorry state some of our classmates would have Monday morning after yet another weekend marathon on the local internet cafe. Bloodshot eyes, wrinkled uniforms and a general sense of tiredness that they couldn't hide nor shake off. It was like drugs.
I moved away from my city in 2007 and didn't return until several years later, so I actually missed most of the actual "death" of internet cafes, but it's still eerie seeing the places where they once stood -- large, box-shaped business designed to hold several rows of computers now turned into grocery stores or mini-marts. A faded sign here and there that once promised endless hours of online fun now hidden in plain sight. Even the actual name and logo of my favorite cafe still hanging atop the completely unrelated business front that has replaced it, because the new owners see no sense on spending time or money getting it taken down. There's something really sad about this whole thing... it's like an archeological site that no-one cares about.
But no matter how crazy my kids think I am, I can't deny that I had a lot of fun visiting these places. And I miss them.
What about you? Were you ever a regular on these?
Last edited:
