Sunset for the Internet cafe

By Bernard Rowan

Present-day advanced society relies on a ubiquity of information. Korea has advantages in achieving information literacy because of its size. It's easier to spread Internet technology across the country. With many powerhouse corporations providing the means, Korean citizens can talk and send texts and emails with ideal convenience.

There remain issues of the information divide. The most important involves the unmet needs for people of lower socioeconomic status. They don't share in our advanced, "digitized," high-tech world. Those living in remote parts of the country don't have the Internet. While most Koreans and citizens of other advanced nations stay connected with digital means, many can't do so.

Contributing to the democratic Internet possibility for much of the last 20 years, Internet cafes have played an important role in South Korea. The existence of PC-bangs, or Internet cafes, in the late 20th century and until now has provided millions of users with ways to use the Internet at little cost. According to a 2014 Wall Street Journal article, there are more than 12,000 PC bangs in South Korea. Several causes contribute to their decline. However, I want to write about the value of Internet cafes based on my experience.

I've got to tell you, they saved me while I was in Korea. I didn't own a computer. I couldn't pay for one, or for universal access. I didn't have a phone with Internet connectivity either. I needed to use the Internet, often late at night or early in the morning, to communicate with friends, family and colleagues in the U.S. PC-bangs helped me. Many, many people still rely on them, even in Korea. For the fewer than 20 percent of Koreans who don't use cell phones, Internet cafes remain important, as well for foreigners.

For just a few dollars an hour, all people regardless of their means can stay connected, conduct business and access all the Internet brings us. People use the Internet cafes close to their homes at nearly all times of the day or night. These important benefits increase in salience for elderly and younger users, and for those in remote areas.

The cafes sell snacks and light meals, which provide a useful source of energy to help users. The owners and styles vary, but they provide access to a connection of communications that typifies the norm. I've read that many cafes start to provide fancier environments to attract users.

Yes, these places can become spaces for dysfunction. Teens spend too much time in PC-bangs. People become addicted to games, Internet sites and chat spaces. Internet gambling is a big problem. Viewing of pornography and hate websites can be a problem. Criminals may troll these places or prey on patrons through websites.

Most people don't use them for such purposes. They play games, send and receive information, and communicate with other people in positive ways. Internet cafes become community spaces, with regular patrons and staff knowing one another. We're enthralled with the virtual. This new norm for linking with others means PC-bangs remind us that face-to-face places don't always have substitutes and complement the virtual world.

Another issue with Internet cafes concerns smoking, which went with their spaces. The government began a smoking ban in 2013. This has decreased use and spurred the decline of Internet cafes. Smoking is a health issue, and Internet cafes often had the smell of stale tobacco.

With cell phones, PDAs and tablets that access gaming, PC-bangs will fade away over time. I'm not calling this sad, good or bad. It does, however, invite an important question for Korea and the rest of the advanced world. How do we preserve the possibility for available connections and communications through electronic means, for people of all classes and places?

I think South Korea should take a leadership role in spreading the availability of Internet technology to all citizens. Programs should make telephones or tablets available to all citizens. Or the government and businesses should create more places to rent them at low cost. This should promote the culture of information literacy regardless of age or income. It's also important to spread this democratic technology of information provision to the small towns and rural and remote areas of Korea.

It seems the Internet café is fading. Her time is passing, just like those of the beautiful non-chain coffee and teahouses of the 1980s. The changed technology puts us anywhere instead of somewhere. I'd like to study the Korean culture of ppali ppali for the form and design of emerging technologies. The cell phone may be killing PC-bangs, but we can't blame technology. The design of technology impacts our behavior and expectations about information.

While scholars such as Cho Paek-che and others have discussed the problem of "infollution," or information pollution, 21st-century Korea and indeed most of the world craves readily available information. It's also always the time to continue providing access to information as a democratic possibility that enriches us all.

Bernard Rowan is associate provost for contract administration and professor of political science at Chicago State University, where he has served for 22 years. Reach him at browan10@yahoo.com.