Has the tide of technological advance washed away internet cafes on the Camino?

[Stephen]

With mobile phones and the like there may be no call for them anymore.

 

[Bradypus]

Can't recall seeing any internet cafes in the past couple of years. A few albergues have had one or two PCs available for use but they mainly seem to be gathering dust. May not be around much longer. I think that the vast majority of people are now using wifi and their own personal devices. I certainly would not rely on finding public access computers at all regularly these days. Similar story for payphones - an endangered species.

 

[oursonpolaire]

I am not certain about the Francese, but on the del Norte & Primitivo, most pueblos had computers for public use at the local casa cultural or library. If memory serves me well there was a provincial government programme to heighten internet connexion in rural areas, and in several places there were computer training classes in process- if there was a spare terminal, they would let me use it for email and so forth.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Internet cafes never existed for most of the Camino. The big cities still have some, though. The computers in albergues were never well maintained, but they were generally useful. They are disappearing. Libraries will always have computers, but library hours are not really compatible with pilgrims. WiFi and cell phone data are a vast improvement over the "old way".

You can walk in the style of the pilgrim before the "old way" by using your "off" switch on devices...

 

[MaryLynn]

When I walked into the municipal albergue in Azofra in the fall of 2014, I was surprised to see that their bank of computers had disappeared since I was last there in the spring of 2012. I asked the hospitalera what happened. She said that so many people stuck their head in the door and asked if there was wifi and when they were told 'no,' they turned around and left. The albergue had to get wifi to stay competitive. Most bars also now have wifi, so the computers are disappearing.

 

[SYates]

Actually that is a good thing imo as public computers, if not very well maintained, are often host to a lot of viruses, trojan and the like. And if you use them, for example, to back up your photos to an USB stick there is a good chance that you back up one of those also and take them home.

Buen Camino, SY

 

[AJ]

I am now the proud owner of a smartphone for this very reason. The downside is that I have only a rudimentary idea of how to use it. Trust in God and tie your camels!

 

[Stephen]

+ Quote
I'll have to replace my trusty old Nokia. It did all I required of it, text messages and calls, and best of all only cost £10.