This fall when we were on our Alaskan Cruise we were fortunate to have access to two Cyber Netcafes. One in Skagway and one in Ketcichan. It was from these sites we were able to e-mail our children news of our adventure (See Garden of Eden) on our WEB site. The personnel were friendly and helpful, the computers up to date, and the price was reasonable.
So what are Cyber Netcafes?
They are usually little offices located around the world that have available
computer, fax machines and telephones where one can come in pay a small
fee and use their equipment for whatever purpose they wish.
This last weekend I read an article in the Keystone/Reporter about a similar Netcafe opening in Elroy. So why not an article on Cyber Netcafes located in a nearby community.
In my research my article I ran across a WEB page owned by: K.M. Hollenbeck which expressed in many ways the original idea and beginning of the Cyber Netcafe. I have copied a few of his lines of what the earlier Netcafes were like and what he hopes they can continue to be. You can view his full WEB page by going to: INTERNET CAFES by K.M.Hollenbeck
http://help.cir.utulsa.edu/kevin/roadtrip/cafe.html
But to wet your appetite here are a few lines from his first page:
"Right now there is a new form of shop opening up all over the world, and I for one hope that they're here to stay. The Internet Cafe is the perfect blending of the Internet with the Coffeehouse of old and the Cappachino bar of today. They're what the Kinko's of this country (and elsewhere) should evolve into. I hope to eventually see a 24hrs/7days independent CyberCafe in every college town in the country, where anyone who wants to drop in for a visit at four in the morning or five in the afternoon can find themselves a cup of java and an Internet connection, with maybe some cool folks to talk to. Unfortunately, the lifespan of similar fads seem to only be a matter of years, so it will be an uphill fight to see if they are going to be more than a flash in the pan.
Internet Cafes show up in the strangest, strangest places. They are gifts from the faeries, tucked into the corners of metropolitan areas and hidden in the cracks of some of the most offbeat corners of the planet, instantly charming a community with an offbeat funk that is delicious to experience. If you are in a town with a cybercafe, consider yourself fortunate. For the time being, until Blockbuster or some other megachain syndicates them into lifeless, soulless McCafes, they are some of the coolest outposts on Earth." End of Mr. Hollenbecks article
Now a bit about a Cyber Netcafe in our local community of Elroy
Wisconsin. This Netcafe is part of ElroyNET an, Internet Service Provider for the Elroy and surrounding area see their WEB page at:
http://www.elroynet.com
ElroyNet, Inc. is located at
209 Main St.
Elroy, WI 53929 - Ph. 608-462-4209
The owners are Tony Harris and Laurel Richmond and here is their story as told by Tony Harris:
"Well, we met on the net. We had both purchased a game called Diablo. At that time, I was running a small ISP / consulting business in IL. My mother had fallen ill, and I needed to move home to take care of her. At that time, I started spending a lot of time on the game, as there wasn't much else I could do during the day while my mother slept. In that time I met Laurel. We were just acquaintances on-line and talked on an infrequent basis. Then in May, my mother passed away, and I fell off the net to take care of family related business. Around in October, I was on one night, and she saw me, and we started chatting. Well, a quick chat lasted over 6 hours that first night. After that we regularly talked each day for 3 plus hours. In many of the discussions she had described Alaska, and I wanted to go to see what Alaska was like, it had sounded so beautiful. So, I arranged to get tickets to go up to Anchorage to visit Laurel, and impose on her to be my tour guide. January 1998 came, and I went up to visit. It was beautiful, and we fell in love. I spent a week up there, and it was a magnificent trip. After I came back to IL, we continued to speak regularly, until we decided she should move to IL. Well, during the spring/summer, there were terrible storms up here in Elroy that damaged my farm property. We had to come up here to take care of it. A trip of a few weeks came to end up deciding to stay up here. After moving all of our stuff from IL, we made the farm our home. My family owned property up here for about 4.5 years (up here being in the Elroy area), after my mother passed away it fell to me, and between it and living in Chicago, living in Elroy was much more appealing. I enjoy the small town feel much more then the large city life. Once we moved here (Laurel and I) we needed to do something, and starting this business seemed like the logical decision. I had been in the computer field for over 18 years, and had done consulting and service providing in IL. I enjoyed it there, and enjoy it even more up here. As a new business, we extremely anxious to give our clients and customers good service at a reasonable cost. Tony & Laural Invite you to attend their GRAND OPENING this Tuesday December 1st from 8:am to 7:pm. Lots of prizes such as software, computer time and plenty of good snacks.
Elroy Net has three main functions:
1.Internet Service Provider.
Standard unlimited Internet dialup. (all internet rates include tax)
Dialup (basic unlimited) $16.95 / mo
(3 mo contract) $48.00 / 3 mo
(6 mo contract) $92.70 / 6 mo
(1 yr contract) $174.00 / yr
2.Computer Hardware & Software Supplier.
3.Cyber Netcafe
In house computer rentals including Internet access.
Word processing or whatever computer need you have.
Very reasonable rates.
Business Hours are: M-Th. 10am - 7pm - Fr 10am - 9pm
Sat Noon - 6pm Closed Sundays. Also available by appointment.
E-mail {support@elroynet.com} {admin@elroynet.com} {sales@elroynet.com}
Other Services offered. See their WEB page at:
>http://www.elroynet.com< or contact them by phone, 608-462-4209
E-mail {support@elroynet.com} for information on the following:
> light user internet dialup
> Business dialup
> Web hosting and design
> leased lines
> Local "net cafe"
> classes
> one on one tutoring
> custom computers
> misc. hardware and software
> ability to special order over 70,000 products.
> on-site consultation
> coming soon one disk (5 for Win3.1) setup for the internet
> custom CGI programming for the web
> custom windows application programming
> Color laser prints
> Digital photography
> Video Editing
> onsite and in store hardware / software trouble shooting
>
> Dialup (lite user) $5.00 / mo, includes 9 hrs, each additional hour
> is $1.50 after the first 9.
> Leased lines: varies depending on speed, cost runs from
> ~$50 - $800 / mo, not including setup or telco charges
> Webhosting: $25.00
>
> in-house computer rental: $5.00 / hr (discounts are available in 5, 10 and
> 20 hr blocks)
>
> Hardware and/or software: varies
> Consulting: $25 / hr
> Web Programming: $25 / hr
> Custom computer programs: varies
> Video Editing: price not set
> Classes: price not set
>
> Classes will take place at our location in Elroy. Classes will include
> Introduction to your computer
> Advanced using your computer
> Introduction to Word Processing
> Introduction to Spreadsheets
> Introduction to the Internet
> Advanced Internet
> Introduction to programming (not a set class, may not be offered)
> Going inside your computer and not being afraid
> Getting your business on the net
> Tips and tricks of upgrading.
>
> We will offer private tutoring either here at our location, or at a companies office, or persons home. Our rates are $25 / hr for one on one tutoring.
>
> We are unsure about the cost of the classes. Classes will most likely include a "class manual" and span several days to several weeks depending on the type of class. We hope to have our class schedule together either by mid December or the beginning of Jan.
LINKS TO OTHER CYBER NETCAFES
The following list contains a number of links to interesting sites that will give you further information about Cyber Netcafe's through out the world. If you are planning a trip you can look up and see if there are any NETCAFES in the area you plan on visiting :
Cyber Cafe Search Engine > http://cybercaptive.com/ <
Just click on this site and you can list the city you wish info on and it will
list all Netcafe's in that given area.
One real good site that really gives you a lot of cyber netcafes info is: > http://www.netcafeguide.com/frames.html <
Portalnd Oregon also has world wide links to cyber netcafes:
> http://www.millennium-cafe.com/access.shtml <
Where you want to do more than e-mail, like mail reports home to your friends or publisher but do not want to carry your computer:
> http://www.image.dk/~andersa/technotravel/no-computer.htm <