Easy to use tablets are a great way of introducing new users to the Internet. But for most Africans, the hardware remains too expensive. We've come up with a potential solution, making them available in cybercafés.
The Equinox cybercafé, a typical cybercafé located in Dakar’s vibrant Medina neighborhood, is trying out the concept. It replaced their computers with 15 tablets, and made them available at the same price as a regular cybercafe computer session at about $0.60 an hour
Equinox cybercafé before and after replacing PCs with tablets
When customers start a session on the tablet, they find popular applications ready for immediate use and are able to download any application of their choice. The device can be used comfortably seated on a couch, from a private booth for a video chat or on a dock with a wireless keyboard. Once the session is finished, the cybercafé staff will help perform a factory reset, to ensure that all of private data on the device is erased.
Our hope is that cybercafés attract new customers interested in a more simple and interactive way of going online, and make significant savings on their number one operating expense: electricity. Tablets consume much less power than desktops or laptops, and don’t require ventilation. Among other things, these savings can be reinvested in faster connectivity.
We look forward to finding out as the project unfolds, and hope that people living in Dakar will stop by to try out something new.
Posted by Alex Grouet, Business Development Manager, Francophone Africa et Yomi Oyesiku, Program Manager, Emerging Markets Access.
How/are the tablets secured?
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