----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, January 08, 2001 1:43
PM
Subject: RE: [cc] Thin Clients
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
-----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
