RE: [cc] Thin Clients

[Ron H]

The primary questions you should be asking yourself are: 1) Why would I want to use Thin Clients? And, 2) What is the purpose of my Cybercaf�?   The common reason, that clients have told me, for wanting to use Thin Clients are cost and administration. Your reasons may be different. The cost of a Thin Client is really not that different from the cost of a stand-alone PC. Many people compare the cost of a higher capability PC to that of a Thin Client's cost. Unfortunately that is a poor comparison as the Thin Client does not have the same level of capability. Many very capable PC are close to the cost of a Thin Client.   The other common justification for Thin Clients is maintenance. At first glance this makes a lot of sense not it's architecture also poses several problems. You will have administrative software available, that is designed for an office environment, but the needs of a public environment are often very different. These different needs are one of the reasons why software, such as ours, has been so well accepted for managing cybercafes and other public access computer systems. Most of these specialized public access computer tools will not run on a Thin Client network, making your total management task much more difficult.   The second question is probably the most important. Is your reason for opening a cybercaf� to provide fast and easy access of computers to the public or is it to satisfy your personal wants and needs to explore new technology. Many cafe operators get their purpose for being in business confused with their personal technical interests. Joe public generally comes in off the street to use your computer to get on the 'net, go e-mail, write a letter or play a game. Few care little about the operating system, as long as it's something that they are comfortable and familiar with. If you want to run Linux on your server, fine, if that tool makes the most sense to you. As you the customer machines however, you will usually be far better off giving them something that is as close to what they are used to as possible. That usually means a Windows interface and sometimes a Mac. Very few customers will be familiar with Thin Client or Linux setups.   We had a cybercaf� here in Vancouver that went with a Thin Client system. It was their belief that a cybercaf� consisted of providing public access computers with e-mail and web browsing capabilities, and little more. They had 12 Thin Clients, a nice little cafe and were parts of one of the areas larger computer retail stores in the heart of downtown Vancouver. The key word here is "were". Customers quickly voiced disappointment in their inability to transfer files onto and off of disks and a lack of broader services, including games. They were charged only $5 per hour, compared to our $9.50 but price alone was not enough. They simply were not providing the services that customers wanted. Their customers did not complain a lot, they simply quit going back.   If you look at the cybercaf� market you will find a great deal of variation in products, services and technology. A good number of these businesses fail, as is not uncommon an any group of new business ventures. Of those that make it, look for ones that offer similar products and service to what you plan to do. Also, look at the size of those businesses and find ones that are close to your plans. How are they doing it? Chances are few, if any, are using Thin Clients - maybe there is a reason. That is not to say that you should not attempt to try new things, but it should raise some flags to say, "Hey, I better look into this really well before I stake my business on it."   This has been mostly a philosophical look at the question but there are several other more practical issues also, with the true cost difference being one. Limitations in services that can be offered is another. As mentioned in another replay, an inability to play games is a consideration.   Games may or may not prove to be a big issue for your location, but are you willing to completely rule them out? As one of my customer recently said to me: "When I opened, I planned on adding 6 more Internet stations after a few months. Now I see that I need more game stations and my current 6 Internet stations are sufficient." Before this customer opened his cybercaf�, he was planning on having only a very small game offering. By working with this client, we pointed out the potential in his area and he split his stations, half with games and half without. For this outlet, the lack of flexibility would have been disastrous. Always leave your options open.   Good luck, whichever path you take, Ron H - Digital Access www.digital-u.com/digitalaccess      -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of RHIL Sent: Sunday, January 07, 2001 8:05 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [cc] Thin Clients Hi! Is anyone using Thin Clients in their cybercafe? I ask because I am opening my cybercafe in about 2 months and planning to buy then, Esprit 100-TCE, Thin Clients and a Intel Columbus Pentium III 800 server to run them. Any advice? Are PC better? Thank You Rafael Hildebrand [EMAIL PROTECTED]