Urgh! Are internet cafés not a thing any more?!
Let me explain why I am asking.
As some of you may have noticed, I have been missing in action for the past 2 weeks. That was because I was away in Cyprus, and I like to cut myself off from the rest of the world when I am on holidays.
Like I did last year, I wanted to meet up with some people while I was over on the island. The problem is that I spent so much time this summer doing other things, that I didn’t get the ball rolling soon enough in making the arrangements.
Unfortunately, two of the skaters I would have liked to meet this year were going to be out of the country, taking the opportunity to get some valuable ice time on a full-sized rink before the seasons starts. Although I was disappointed for myself, I was delighted for them. Because having ice time on a full-sized rink is going to really help them.
With another skater, although I have been cheering her on for quite a few years, and have wanted to become friends on Facebook for almost as long, I was nervous of actually sending the request. But, I took the plunge earlier in the summer, and was delighted when she accepted me pretty much straight away. Now, because we had only recently become connected, I wanted to chat a bit before suggesting meeting. And it ended up that I didn’t actually get to drop in that I was going to be on the island and would like to meet her until the day before my flight out.
Another person I wanted to meet up with was actually I girl that I was friends with when I was at primary school. She moved to a different town in Northern Ireland when we were 10, and we lost contact. But, we got back in contact on Facebook a few years ago, and she has been working in Cyprus for the past year or so. Having not seen each other for 22 years, it would have been lovely to meet up. But, I totally forgot to contact her, and only remembered when I was on the plane!
Last year, although I started making arrangements earlier than I did this year, there were still a lot of things that couldn’t be finalised until I was actually over there.
Fortunately, I knew there was an internet café just round the corner from where we were staying. But, there were times when we were out and about that I had to be able to keep an eye out for messages on Facebook, so I had to resort to using my Dad’s smartphone (he had only recently switched to a smartphone).
I’ve already mentioned it on here a few times, but I don’t have a mobile phone, because over the years I have found that a lot of them give me really bad headaches. With some of the mobiles that my Dad has had over the years, I would be at one end of the house and would be able to tell you if my Dad was using his mobile at the other end of the house. Yet, with others, they wouldn't affect me at all. And there was no way of knowing which would affect me and which wouldn't.
Anyway, back to the subject. I have to admit, I hated the mobile version of Facebook! It is awful compared to the desktop version! And it was such a nuisance not being able to view your private messages with the rest of Facebook in the internet browser, but instead having to download a separate programme. Plus, I HATE touch screens with a passion!
Fast forward a year, and everything has changed. My Dad was always very against social networking sites. But, a few months ago, one of his friends bullied him into joining Facebook so that it would be easier for him to keep in touch with things happening in an association they are both in.
And he very quickly become totally addicted! Every time you look at him, he is futtering away on his phone. So, I knew fine well I would have to do things differently than last year.
Apart from anything else, I don't know enough about mobile phones to know if it is even possible to use a different Facebook account to the the one that is normally used on that phone.
So, the day after we arrived, I went down the street, and discovered that the internet café was no longer there. Half of it was now a bicycle rental shop, and the other half, well, I’m not sure what it was (all the windows and doors are permanently shuttered. But any time the door happened to be open, you couldn’t see any computers).
It used to be that a lot of eating houses would have a computer where customers could check their e-mails or whatever. But now, no-where seems to do that any more. Instead, they just have a sign saying “Free Wi-Fi access here”. Which is fine if you have a Wi-Fi device with you, but I didn’t.
We were staying in Limassol. But, I was keeping an eye out in all the other towns that we went to, and it was the same. I couldn’t find any internet cafés. So, I wasn’t able to contact anybody, and hence didn’t get to meet anybody.
So now I’m curious to know whether it is the same in other parts of the world. Are internet cafés becoming a thing of the past?
I can understand that it is far cheaper for establishments like eating houses to provide Wi-Fi access than it is to provide and maintain computers. But, it is not fair on people who do not have a Wi-Fi device with them.
As for internet cafés, I thought that the whole idea of them was to provide access to computers for people who can’t afford to buy their own. So, surely just providing Wi-Fi access is defeating the whole purpose.
I can tell you something. This experience has really reinvigorated my desire to find somebody who can refurbish my laptop.
(For those who don’t know, I haven’t been able to use my laptop for about 3 or 4 years because it was seriously overheating. I could just buy a new one, but don’t want to because laptops nowadays don’t include half the things that I had – and used regularly – in my old one. The manufacturers are obsessed with making laptops lighter and thinner, which means taking out things like DVD drives, floppy drives, and all sockets except USB sockets. Which means that to get everything that I had built-in in my old laptop, I would need to carry around lots of peripherals, which I can’t be bothered with. Instead, I would like somebody to take my laptop and effectively build a new one out of it. But I can’t find anybody to do it).
Sorry for waffling on. I could have just asked the question, but wanted to explain the context.
CaroLiza_fan
Let me explain why I am asking.
As some of you may have noticed, I have been missing in action for the past 2 weeks. That was because I was away in Cyprus, and I like to cut myself off from the rest of the world when I am on holidays.
Like I did last year, I wanted to meet up with some people while I was over on the island. The problem is that I spent so much time this summer doing other things, that I didn’t get the ball rolling soon enough in making the arrangements.
Unfortunately, two of the skaters I would have liked to meet this year were going to be out of the country, taking the opportunity to get some valuable ice time on a full-sized rink before the seasons starts. Although I was disappointed for myself, I was delighted for them. Because having ice time on a full-sized rink is going to really help them.
With another skater, although I have been cheering her on for quite a few years, and have wanted to become friends on Facebook for almost as long, I was nervous of actually sending the request. But, I took the plunge earlier in the summer, and was delighted when she accepted me pretty much straight away. Now, because we had only recently become connected, I wanted to chat a bit before suggesting meeting. And it ended up that I didn’t actually get to drop in that I was going to be on the island and would like to meet her until the day before my flight out.
Another person I wanted to meet up with was actually I girl that I was friends with when I was at primary school. She moved to a different town in Northern Ireland when we were 10, and we lost contact. But, we got back in contact on Facebook a few years ago, and she has been working in Cyprus for the past year or so. Having not seen each other for 22 years, it would have been lovely to meet up. But, I totally forgot to contact her, and only remembered when I was on the plane!
Last year, although I started making arrangements earlier than I did this year, there were still a lot of things that couldn’t be finalised until I was actually over there.
Fortunately, I knew there was an internet café just round the corner from where we were staying. But, there were times when we were out and about that I had to be able to keep an eye out for messages on Facebook, so I had to resort to using my Dad’s smartphone (he had only recently switched to a smartphone).
I’ve already mentioned it on here a few times, but I don’t have a mobile phone, because over the years I have found that a lot of them give me really bad headaches. With some of the mobiles that my Dad has had over the years, I would be at one end of the house and would be able to tell you if my Dad was using his mobile at the other end of the house. Yet, with others, they wouldn't affect me at all. And there was no way of knowing which would affect me and which wouldn't.
Anyway, back to the subject. I have to admit, I hated the mobile version of Facebook! It is awful compared to the desktop version! And it was such a nuisance not being able to view your private messages with the rest of Facebook in the internet browser, but instead having to download a separate programme. Plus, I HATE touch screens with a passion!
Fast forward a year, and everything has changed. My Dad was always very against social networking sites. But, a few months ago, one of his friends bullied him into joining Facebook so that it would be easier for him to keep in touch with things happening in an association they are both in.
And he very quickly become totally addicted! Every time you look at him, he is futtering away on his phone. So, I knew fine well I would have to do things differently than last year.
Apart from anything else, I don't know enough about mobile phones to know if it is even possible to use a different Facebook account to the the one that is normally used on that phone.
So, the day after we arrived, I went down the street, and discovered that the internet café was no longer there. Half of it was now a bicycle rental shop, and the other half, well, I’m not sure what it was (all the windows and doors are permanently shuttered. But any time the door happened to be open, you couldn’t see any computers).
It used to be that a lot of eating houses would have a computer where customers could check their e-mails or whatever. But now, no-where seems to do that any more. Instead, they just have a sign saying “Free Wi-Fi access here”. Which is fine if you have a Wi-Fi device with you, but I didn’t.
We were staying in Limassol. But, I was keeping an eye out in all the other towns that we went to, and it was the same. I couldn’t find any internet cafés. So, I wasn’t able to contact anybody, and hence didn’t get to meet anybody.
So now I’m curious to know whether it is the same in other parts of the world. Are internet cafés becoming a thing of the past?
I can understand that it is far cheaper for establishments like eating houses to provide Wi-Fi access than it is to provide and maintain computers. But, it is not fair on people who do not have a Wi-Fi device with them.
As for internet cafés, I thought that the whole idea of them was to provide access to computers for people who can’t afford to buy their own. So, surely just providing Wi-Fi access is defeating the whole purpose.
I can tell you something. This experience has really reinvigorated my desire to find somebody who can refurbish my laptop.
(For those who don’t know, I haven’t been able to use my laptop for about 3 or 4 years because it was seriously overheating. I could just buy a new one, but don’t want to because laptops nowadays don’t include half the things that I had – and used regularly – in my old one. The manufacturers are obsessed with making laptops lighter and thinner, which means taking out things like DVD drives, floppy drives, and all sockets except USB sockets. Which means that to get everything that I had built-in in my old laptop, I would need to carry around lots of peripherals, which I can’t be bothered with. Instead, I would like somebody to take my laptop and effectively build a new one out of it. But I can’t find anybody to do it).
Sorry for waffling on. I could have just asked the question, but wanted to explain the context.
CaroLiza_fan