Cybercafes – The new-age dinosaurs?

Cybercafes were once supposedly one of the most happening places, with youngsters crowding up the place to surf the internet. While smartphones have had an adverse effect on these places, Café digs deeper to find out what place do cybercafes hold in the hearts of today’s youth

Published on:

06 Aug 2016, 1:26 am

There was once a time when internet

in India was synonymous with the

cybercafes. Whether is was to check their

emails, chat online, get information for

studies or assignments, or download

songs, India’s young population was

highly dependent on these cyberspaces

for almost anything and everything. Not

just that, the gaming crazy generation

also used cybercafes to play their

favourite online games with players from

across the world.

The first major setback to the

cybercafes came when internet routers

and WiFi networks brought internet

to people’s doorsteps. Still, lower

accessibility and high prices allowed

only a fewer people to browse at home,

still keeping the popularity of cybercafes

among youngsters, quite high. And

then entered our beloved smartphones.

Smartphones and mobile internet

helped expand the reach of internet to

millions, thus diminishing the need to

visit cybercafes frequently. Most of the

purposes that the cybercafes had served,

whether it’s using social media, seeking

information, or gaming, everything was

just a tap away.

However, though these internet

centres have decreased in number

drastically, we can still say that they are

far from getting extinct, as there are

still some tasks that everyone cannot

perform at home. As Eddie Rego of

G-Wave Cybercafe in Panjim puts it,

“It’s true that the number of people

coming in has fallen. But I am sure

that cyberspaces wouldn’t shut down.

Nowadays youngsters don’t come here

for the purpose they did earlier. But

people still need to come here for other

tasks such as printing, scanning or filling

out important exam forms, as everyone

does not have these facilities at home.”

And though they have stopped visiting

cybercafes as often as they did earlier,

the generation that grew up accessing

internet at these cafes have not forgotten

the experience.

The youngsters getting nostalgic