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ABOUT INTERNET CAFÉS

Do you know of a good Internet Café?    Tell us all about it!     Ever wondered what goes on in them?

Those of us who travel, and many who do not, often need to avail ourselves of telephones, fax facilities and, increasingly, Internet access.
The internet cafés of the world vary enormously and we hope you will tell us all about the Internet café's you find and what facilities they offer.

A typical Internet café is visited by a wide variety of clients.
Business people travelling away from their usual premises will avail themselves of the facilities to stay in touch with their offices, make contact with potential suppliers and clients and contact their families. 
In many cases they also avail themselves of a printer to create hard copy from material they receive on the Internet.

Holidaymakers will use the Internet to stay in touch with relatives and friends as well as to find out more about what's on and where to go, for travel information and to browse leisure sites.
Students visit Internet cafes to work on special school projects and theses.
Locals use them for online shopping, as learning centres and to play computer games as well as for myriad other purposes. Journalists use Internet cafés to send copy to their editors, too!

'Surfing the Net' as browsing through web-sites is called, can be a lot of fun and very instructive. It can save you a lot of time in searching for information and acquaint you with all sorts of new ideas. There's more about that in CyberSurfing...
'Search Engines' help you to find the websites which deal with the topic you have in mind and can reveal the existence of sources you were previously unaware of. You can buy almost anything via the Internet.
A lot of people make friends with new people through 'chat rooms' and exchange ideas through online 'discussions'.

Some cafés have a 'web cam' which is a camera permanently turned on, taking a picture every three minutes. You can go into the café at a pre-arranged time and your friends can see you by logging on to the camera's website, from anywhere in the world. If both of you are in cafes with 'web cam', you can see each other and, these days, you can talk to each other via microphones in the computers less expensively than telephoning in many cases! 

Most Internet Cafés offer fax and telephone facilities in addition to their Internet facilities. Many offer typing services, photocopying and a surface mail holding facility too.
Often, lessons in using computers are available at Internet cafés and many sell a range of goods, some related to their services, like diskettes, software and accessories.
Many cafés have a scanner, and sending digital photographs via the Internet has become a popular way to keep absent family up to date with the progress of growing children as well as being used by businessmen as a sales aid.

Some cafes sell coffee, tea and soft drinks, some give a free drink to customers. Some are even attached to premises licensed to sell alcoholic beverages.
In most Internet cafés, there is at least one person there who can help you to get acquainted with the way the Internet works, help you get your own e-mail address (free, in many cases) and show you how to use the e-mail system. 

Any problems are usually swiftly solved and you can learn quite a lot of useful stuff just by observing what the staff do in a good Internet café.
If you're not already familiar with the world of Internet cafés, pop into one, next time you have the opportunity and find out for yourself. When you're away from home base, they're always a welcome sight.
If you're an old hand, tell us why you like the café(s) you use and what services are provided. 
Help us to build up a list of coastal Internet cafés around the world - remember to tell us the details of how other readers can find yours!