HISTORY OF INTERNET CAFE (COMPUTER SHOP) The online cafe phenomenon was started in July 1991 by Wayne Gregori in San Francisco when he beganSFnet Coffeehouse Network. Gregori designed, built and installed 25 coin operated computer terminals incoffeehouses throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. The cafe terminals dialed into a 32 line Bulletin Board System that offered an array of electronic services including FIDOnet mail and, in 1992, Internet mail. 1] The concept of a cafe with full Internet access (and the name Cybercafe) was invented in early 1994 by Ivan Pope. Commissioned to develop an Internet event for an arts weekend at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London, and inspired by the SFnet terminal based cafes, Pope wrote a proposal outlining the concept of a cafe with Internet access from the tables. The event was run over the weekend of 12–13 March 1994 during the ‘Towards the Aesthetics of the Future’ event.
In June 1994, The Binary Cafe, Canada’s first Internet cafe, opened in Toronto, Ontario. After an initial appearance at the conference site of the 5th International Symposium on Electronic Art, ISEA, in August 1994, an establishment called CompuCafe was established in Helsinki, Finland, featuring both Internet access and a robotic beer seller. Inspired partly by the ICA event, a commercial establishment of this type, called Cyberia, opened on September 1, 1994 in London, England.
In January 1995, CB1 Cafe in Cambridge, installed internet and is the longest running Internet Cafe in the UK, still operating today. [2] The first public, commercial American Internet cafe was conceived and opened by Jeff Anderson in August 1994, at Infomart in Dallas, Texas and was called The High Tech Cafe. [3] Next, in the USA, three Internet cafes opened in the East Village neighborhood of New York City: Internet Cafetm, opened by Arthur Perley, the @ Cafe, and the Heroic Sandwich. [4] In 1996, the Internet cafe Surf City opened in downtown Anchorage, Alaska.
A variation of Internet cafe called PC bang (similar to LAN gaming center) became extremely popular in South Korea when StarCraft was released in 1997. Although computer and broadband penetration per capita were very high, young people went to PC bangs to play multiplayer games. Internet cafes are located worldwide, and many people use them when traveling to access webmail and instant messaging services to keep in touch with family and friends. Apart from travelers, in many developing countries Internet cafes are the primary form f Internet access for citizens as a shared-access model is more affordable than personal ownership of equipment and/or software. A variation on the Internet cafebusiness model is the LAN gaming center, used for multiplayer gaming. These cafes have several computer stations connected to a LAN. The connected computers are custom-assembled for gameplay, supporting popular multiplayer games. This is reducing the need for video arcadesand arcade games, many of which are being closed down or merged into Internet cafes.
The use of Internet cafes for multiplayer gaming is particularly popular in certain areas of Asia like China, Taiwan, Hong Kong,South Korea and the Philippines. In some countries, since practically all LAN gaming centers also offer Internet access, the terms net cafe and LAN gaming center have become interchangeable. Again, this shared-access model is more affordable than personal ownership of equipment and/or software, specially since games often require high end and expensive PCs.
There are also Internet kiosks, Internet access points in public places likepublic libraries, airport halls, sometimes just for brief use while standing. Many hotels, resorts, and cruise ships offer Internet access for the convenience of their guests; this can take various forms, such as in-room wireless access, or a web browser that uses the in-room television set for its display (usually in this case the hotel provides a wireless keyboard on the assumption that the guest will use it from the bed), or computer(s) that guests can use, either in the lobby or in a business center.
As with telephone service, in the US most mid-price hotels offer Internet access from a computer in the lobby to registered guests without charging an additional fee, while fancier hotels are more likely to charge for the use of a computer in their “business center. ” For those traveling by road in North America, many truck stops have Internet kiosks, for which a typical charge is around 20 cents per minute. [5] Internet cafes come in a wide range of styles, reflecting their location, main clientele, and sometimes, the social agenda of the proprietors.
In the early days they were important in projecting the image of the Internet as a ‘cool’ phenomena. Types of Financial Institutions Banks When it comes to financial institutions, many people think first about their personal banking institution. For some it may be a savings bank, for others it may be a credit union and still for others, the word bank may refer to a nationwide chain or a national bank. There are actually four categories, or classifications, under the word bank when it comes to financial institutions. They are: * Commercial * Savings and loan * Credit unions * Internet banks
By definition alone, a bank is a financial institution where deposits can be made, all of which are insured by federal government. For example, in the case of a commercial bank or savings and loan, the deposits are guaranteed by the FDIC (that is the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation). Other financial institutions may guarantee their deposits through a non-federal organization such as the National Credit Union Administration which insures the funds in a credit union. Commercial Banks. Most people patronize commercial banks. Commercial banks tend to offer an array of services that cater to their consumer base.
Commercial banks typically do not offer the highest interest rates on deposits for their consumers. Savings and Loans. These banks may offer less products than a commercial bank; however, they cater to their members by providing a higher interest rate on deposits than a commercial bank. Credit Unions. A credit union is basically a bank which is owned by its members. Credit unions decide what market they want to serve such as the employees of a certain company or the residents of a certain city. Since they are often non-profit organizations there is no real push to give profits to shareholders.
Internet Banks. The newest type of bank, the Internet bank, pays higher interest rates on deposits with a lower rate for loans because there are fewer expenses to be paid. There are no physical branches, so there are less employees. The Internet convenience, combined with the higher rates and lower loan rates, are why some people may find banking via an Internet bank attractive. Non-Banks When we talk about non-banks as financial institutions there are three major types of companies that can fall under this financial blanket. They are: * Mortgage firms Mutual fund corporations * Brokerage firms With these types of institutions you open an account by taking out a loan, buying a mutual fund or opening a trading account. You can deposit money into your account by paying on your loan or buying mutual funds or stocks. You can withdraw money by writing a check or having the institution write a check to you. Some brokerage firms are issuing ATM cards and credit cards as well as making loans. However, there is no federal deposit insurance guarantee, and mutual funds and trading accounts function differently than bank accounts.
