Cafe Internet® in the Bremerton Sun

Cafe takes grind out of cyberspace

From Penninsula Daily News, Sunday June 4, 1995
Business: Java junkies will have opportunity to 'surf and sip'
 By Marcia Dalton
For the Penninsula Daily News

Port Townsend - Cafe Internet will be a place where you can communicate with a friend via computer, "surf" the information highway and sip espresso too.
"We are seizing the opportunity to bring the access to the Internet to the Peninsula," said David Green, owner of the Cafe Internet, which will open later this month on Sims Way.
At the cafe, customers will be able to use one of three computer terminals to reach anywhere in the world, Green said. And they can enjoy their choice of coffee while they "surf the net".
Its not the first "sip and surf" cafe - there are two in Seattle - but Green, an entrepeneur and consulting orthopedic surgeon, says it's an idea whose time has come.
He said he believed the idea of combining computers and caffeine was a natural.
"Everyone loves espresso, and a lot of people are interested in the Internet," he said. "This setting is a comfortable way to introduce the Internet."
He added that Cafe Internet is not meant as a classroom. People who use the computers will be expected to have a basic working knowledge of computers. Trained staff will be on hand to assist people, but the charge for computer use will be partly based on how much assistance is needed.
Green said he doesn't have a fee scale yet, but he expects a base price for use to be around $7.50 per hour.
Located in the Lighthouse mall in Port Townsend, the cafe will consist of two IBM compatible computer terminals and an espresso cart with tables and chairs in the main room, and a third computer set up with a 27 inch TV screen in a private room.
Green said the private room will be useful for educational presentations or business conferences.
In addition to the Internet, the computers will have programs of interest to a wide range of people, such as writers, business people and teachers. The cafe will also have a laser printer, a color stylus printer and a scanner.
"There are a lot of exceedingly talented people in the area who need to get their products out," Green said. He sees the cafe as a way for people to have access to thousands of dollars worth of technology, for a reasonable fee, in a relaxed atmosphere.
The cafe is located next door to Mailboxes Etc., a postal service store, which Green also owns. He calls the two businesses "a communications hub" in Port Townsend.
He expects to open the cafe by later June, and yes, the keyboards will be protected by "espresso proof" covers.



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