Computer Cafes

[MosJan]

Computer cafes turn talkers into typists

By Lusine Zeytunian

ArmeniaWeek reporter

Known as a culture that “talks with its hands” Armenia is becoming a place where citizens chat with their fingers.

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A joke among Yerevantsis is that if someone wants to start a new business then he or she opens a beauty salon, a taxi service, or an Internet club.

 

We have yet to count the beauty salons and taxi services, but last week ArmeniaWeek took a count of Internet clubs in an area of Yerevan bordered by Mashtots, Amiryan, Nalbandian and Sayat Nova streets. Just within those several blocks, we found 23 Internet cafes and clubs.

 

Ranging from the cramped to the expansive, these new businesses have become something of a phenomenon in the past several months in Yerevan (although the first one opened in 1998).

 

They have become popular not just for cybersurfing, but for socializing.

 

"The Internet club has become my second home," says 19-year-old Anahit Melikian, whose mild character at once changes when she finds herself in front of a computer. Once there she completely dives into the computer world of fantasy and wonder.

 

"I spend the day at home and the night in this club and in the morning I can't make myself get out of my place and go home I am so much in it,” the teenager says. “Maybe this is an illness - but a type that I like."

 

Youngsters aren't the only fans of Internet cafes.

 

"If someone wanted to see a variety of people I would advise him to come to an Internet café," says Sergei Nikoghosian, who operates of one of the most popular Internet clubs, Matrix.

 

"There are school children who come mainly for games, old men and women checking their mail, businessmen working on their projects and even prostitutes who come here at night to chat. You'll see lots of people here that are similar only in that they dedicate their time to computers."

 

The costs may vary a little in different Internet cafes but the average price for an hour costs 400 Drams (70 cents). There are places where the price can range to 600-900 Drams ($1-$1.50) but those cafes have fewer clients.

 

Some Internet clubs offer specials, such as 1,000 Drams ($1.70) for the whole night or 4,000 Drams ($7) for 20 hours.

 

The clubs and cafes also differ in certain services (ICQ, AOL, and MIRC) and in office programs and computer games. But in all locations, chatrooms are the most popular reasons why youngsters spend their Drams in front of a screen.

 

The cheapest and most popular Internet club in Yerevan today is "Matrix" where an hour costs 300 Drams. It is popular, partly, because of its eight-computer Game Zone where people can come in groups and play against each other.

 

Operators say their peak time at Matrix is from 10 pm to 5 am.

 

"It's true that today so many Internet clubs appear because there is a need for it, because people have learned to use computers and because they are no longer ashamed to confess that they can't operate this or that on computers as they were when the first internet clubs appeared," Nikoghosian says.

 

"But it’s also true that people see that someone opens an Internet club and earns money and think they can do the same. That's how we end up with so many Internet cafes in this little city."

 

Four years ago Yerevan’s first club had only four computers. Today, Matrix alone has 40.

Photos by Vahram Mkhitarian

 

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