Cybercafes - A Dying Trend?

A not-so-anonymous Anonymous Coward asks: "I've been considering opening up a CyberCafe for a while now, and I've been searching the web for cyber cafe websites. I've found several cybercafe databases, but was disappointed to find that a majority of the sites I found were either taken over by register-this-domain pages or hadn't been updated for a couple of years. Another Cyber/Gaming Cafe I found online announced today that they were closing. So are Cyber/Internet/Gaming cafes just another bubble the net will burst, or are they actually worth investing in? Any cafe owners with experience to point one way or the other? Where are the success stories?"

Comments

try something that makes sense

[xutopia]

like a laundromat with two rooms. On for cleaning and one for surfing. And don't fuck up the OS. Install whatever you want, Windows, Linux(preferably if you want to save money) but by all means do not cripple your users with a totally locked down system.

My worst nightmare was having to send a resume and not having a net connection at home yet (moved the day before). I had my resume on my palm but couldn't install the software to grab it on Windows nor was I allowed to boot using Gnoppix (wouldn't boot from CD). I had to go across town to a friend's house to send the damn resume.

Diversification

[Smartcowboy]

I know a couple of cybercafes that are ISP at the same time.

I know one who do web-hosting, PC repair, furniture selling, english/french/spanish translation, web-page and business card conception, typing job, ect.

One I kwow has pool tables and become a bar with a DJ at night. They also have shows and movies and exhibitions.

The cybercafe is only one of their activities. Diversification let them survive.

Can you make a profit

[wrenkin]

There are a lot of cybercafe's in Toronto, and it seems most are run by Koreans (I imagine because they're so popular there. The billing software at the Persian owned cafe near my house is entirely in Korean, not to mention that before they upgraded to XP they were running Korean copies of Win98!).

I go there for lan gaming with my friends, sometimes after hanging out at the bar next door. We did a 2-session overnight Diablo 2 run. It's often packed, with kids, even at 4am (along with the occasional drifter viewing porn). The ones in Chinatown near the University are also busiest at night. The successful ones are all open 24 hours.

There are limits to their 'success', however. Even packed all day, the places are usually pretty dingy, and after a new one opens will all new computers the hardware isn't upgraded all that often (if ever... other than headphones. One I went to apparently bought a batch of Canada 3000 in-flight phones after the airline went bankrupt). I don't see how they can afford to. The rate for students downtown is C$2/hour, with uptown rates around C$3/h after a one time C$5-10 membership (the downtown ones don't try to pull that). I guess they make money on the junk food and Jolt, but still. I once applied for work at one, and they tried to offer me below minimum... for an overnight shift. Maybe it's different in the States. In Washington I went to one that charged US$10 to check my mail!

I remember when the first high-concept cafe (long since gone) opened in the area it was $10/h, had magnetic user cards, per-second billing, Macs.... now competition has reduced things to basements full of eMachines with Geforce2MXs.

Cyber-bar concept with a twist

[RobertB-DC]

I had toyed with the idea of a cyber cafe, until I ran the numbers through a spreadsheet and realized there was no way I could come anywhere near my current salary workin' for the man. Harder work, longer hours, and less pay makes RobertB a dead boy.

But one idea that came to mind was to set up in Dallas' pseudo-punk Deep Ellum strip, where the preppies dress goth and gawk at each other. There would be booths with Internet terminals, a nominal quarter-hour fee, and overpriced drinks.

Here's the twist: the bartender controls several large-screen TVs, which he/she can connect to whichever surfer is most interesting at the time. Like a DJ, the barkeep would be able to adjust the "mix" -- maybe some softcore porn on one screen, a CNN ticker on the other, and someone's hacking session over in the geek corner.

For added enjoyment of the crowd, add picture-in-picture: the surfer, and what they're checking out at the moment. Why is the guy looking at porn so bored, and why is the hot chick reading Reuters so...

Of course, not everyone would want to surf with the world looking over their shoulder. No problem -- for a small additional fee, the bartender would be blocked from showing your mug... a little more to block your surfing altogether.

Just a crazy idea! I'll stick with the steady paycheck, for now.