Back in
2001 it was the first time I had my own email address, I opened my first yahoo account at
the local internet café nearby Kariakoo bus stand few blocks from the local
city market. For those who are familiar with the Tanzanian financial capital
they will understand the directions. At that time the only internet access you
could have was through internet café with only one ISP (internet service
provider) raha.com, believe me, the internet café was among the best business
in town at kariakoo alone they were more than 20 internet café recently it’s
difficult to find even one.
Hint: An internet café or cybercafé is a place which provides
internet access to the public, usually for a fee. These businesses usually
provide snacks and drinks, hence the café in the name. The fee for
using a computer is usually charged as a time-based rate
The internet
café used to be our places to hangout, browsing was among our most addictive
activities. I remember we use to listen to newly released tracks and watch
streaming videos of U.S superstar singers. Having the email account and knowing
how to browse was among the coolest thing a youth could do at that time. Most
of the kids were porn addicts, some could even skip school to go and watch porn
sites. Most of these local internet café they didn’t have strict rules to
protect the abusive usage of the technology this was among the drawback of the
so called the .com generation. Kids used to know things above their age through
uncontrolled internet access.
The
internet café was everything to the local tech communities. It was the place
people read their mails, send and receive their docs, learn online, register for
international universities and so many other things. I remember my best friend’s family
shifted to Liverpool, United Kingdom in 1999 the only way I could get in touch
with the guy was through email that he usually sent to me. I could wait for the
pages to open up sometimes for hours before I got a chance to preview the
message the internet was slow and nobody cares , people were just happy to
scroll the mouse and type on the keyboard the speed was not a concern to them.
The fact that they could at least access and touch the computer was astonishing
achievement to them.
The .com
generation was to blame for so many things that happen to our societies but
actually the fail to control and limit the content which is to be accessed by
the youth in the community was the main problem. The Government didn’t realize
the threat and the consequences until it was too late. Internet café were
everywhere in the cities and towns and every available content online could
easily be accessed by anyone in the local community.
The internet
café played a great role in the advancement of technology usage in EA countries
specifically in Tanzania the general awareness of computers was created through
the Internet café. They days have passed and people become more demanding for
the local content, downloading files, uploading contents and collecting bulk information
online. The speed becomes a problem now. People with mid-level knowledge of
computer usage start to exploit the amateurs, they swallow all the bandwidth to
themselves other users were not able to access the internet, this happened most
of the time at the local internet café. As the speed
becomes an issue most of the people strived to find the alternative sources for
the internet access. Offices started to adopt their own new
internet connections for their office usage and the locals with the resource
pulled the connection to their houses, this was the beginning of the fall of the
internet café.
The business
was facing the first major challenge most of the investors they pulled out,
since the customers were reduced in number and the business become complicated
since the operating cost was high due to the increase on the price of the bandwidth
from the local Internet service providers. Still people could come and use the
internet café since most of them were not capable to pull the internet to their
houses.
The Internet
café survived the first major challenge. For few years things went that way
until the best rise again due to the introduction of the social networking
sites and entertainment sites. Most of the youth joined Facebook and other
become fans of sites like YouTube and other sports sites. The number of
customers increased a bit and it was considered the great come back for the
local Internet café until they face the catastrophic challenge, the rise of the
mobile internet and the introduction of wireless services at lower cost.
This is the
biggest threat to the local internet café until now. The internet access become
cheaper and cheaper, anyone can access the internet through his handheld device
wither a normal phone or smartphone. The Internet café
business become more complicated when people have modems on their hands while
some of the modems charge as low as 2500Tsh per 400MB there is no way for the
Internet café which charge 1000Tsh per hour to survive the challenge.
The modems come with 3G speed, portability and ease of access things which you
can’t get from the Local internet café. It’s so painful to witness the death of
the father of tech usage in EA but it is the harsh reality that there is no
coming back this time especially when everyone is going mobile. Let’s see what
the future has to offer.