A New Year Wish List For I-Cafés

This is the time of the year when we make wishes for the coming year and in this article I list down some items that many i-café owners would want to happen in 2010. Let me just say that wishing for something is the beginning but working for it to happen is the way to achieving them. As businessmen, i-cafe owners must wish for the best results on their undertakings but they must not forget their social responsibilities in their quests for their return of investments and profits. That said, let me now enumerate my personal wish for the Internet café industry in the coming 2010 and the years thereafter.

1) Better Income – As I said in my late Christmas greeting, my personal opinion is that the industry has bottomed out so better income for i-café owners is in the offing. It will come by way of having more demand for the service because of lesser competitions rather than higher rates.

2) Better Internet Connection – Internet connection, the lifeblood of the business, will better in terms of higher speed and less disconnections. Internet service providers will respond faster on service requests resulting to quick solutions on problems related to connectivity.

3) Less Gaming, More Learning – While gaming service is undoubtedly the revenue source for most i-cafés, less gaming and more learning by way of online research and study by customers is still more socially responsible way of earning in i-café business. Many will disagree with me on this, but an income derived from services other than gaming is more socially rewarding. Give it a try and you will know what I mean.

4) Less Intervention By The Authorities – By intervention, I mean raids by government agencies in charge of implementing the anti-piracy laws and apprehensions by local authorities for violations of city and municipal ordinances. You already know how to have peace of mind on this. Compliance to existing laws, ordinances, rules and regulations is the only way to have less interruptions in you i-café business.

5) Free Open-Source Operating System – Speaking of operating system (OS) for an i-café, Linux, a free open-source operating system, is currently the best alternative to Microsoft Windows but it has its limitations on which patches are not forthcoming because i-café applications are not among the priorities of its developers. Google has announced its plan to come out with its own operating system and we wish to have it soon and that it will be as near Windows OS as possible.

There you have it, my wish list for the i-café industry in the Philippines. I know there should be more but these are the only things to came into my mind as I write this blog. How would you like to share what you wish for the industry in the coming year?