As access to internet technology becomes a bigger priority in the so-called developing world, cyber cafes are springing up like rose blossoms. The above picture, taken in a tiny hamlet near the mighty Pulphanzak Falls, illustrates a typically drab and low-key internet cafe in rural Honduras. It is probably part of a family's house, whose denizens likely bought a few computers with money from stateside remunerations (one of the biggest sources of revenue in Honduras). There seemed to be little economic opportunity in this community so I do not see any other way that the goods could have been procured. Most likely, the connection speed for the computers is very slow, and patrons have to contend with curious young children peering over their shoulders throughout their online sessions. On the other hand, these mom-and-pop establishments often had superlative air conditioning and could serve as walk-in refrigerators on blazing hot days.
I am not sure what essential use the internet is to poor people who may not have the privilege of ever straying far from their home communities, except to remind them, like the lottery, of how unfair the world is at the moment. But for the lucky entrepreneurs who can score some PCs or Macs, there is a profit to be had.
I think that we need to create a just and egalitarian socio-economic order before the Internet can truly be appreciated by all. Therefore, initiatives by the Gates Foundation and others to put computers in every third-world classroom, without demanding that those children have an above-average education and sufficient earning potential after school is done, is kind of putting the cart before the horse. But that is just me, the hopeless idealist...
