@Cafe, one of New York City's first dedicated
internet cafes,
was incorporated in early 1995
by Glenn McGinnis, Nicolas Barnes and Chris Townsend
and opened its doors on Tuesday, April 25, 1995 with the slogan “Eat, Drink, ‘Net.”
Founded at 12 St. Marks Place on the site of the original location of
St. Mark's Bookshop,
the 2,500 sq foot
cafe positioned itself as a place where the formerly solitary pursuits of computing were combined with a social atmosphere of a full bar and restaurant.
In addition to the food and drink, the cafe offered dial-up internet services and email accounts through their fly.net web portal.
Computer and internet usage was billed at $5 per half-hour.
The business idea was inspired by Japanese video game cafes that McGinnis had frequented when he lived in Japan during the 1980s.
During the internet's early days when the medium was still mostly unexplored, @Cafe tried to present “the internet at its best,”
paying $9,000 a month
for a dedicated T1 line
and supplying powerful PC or Mac computers at every table.
At the time of @Cafe's opening, the first
Netscape browser had just been released; a technological advance that introduced the internet to a more general computer user.
@Cafe soon became a center for patrons curious about the internet, such as famous hacker,
Phiber Optik
Mark Abene (born February 23, 1972) is an American information security expert and entrepreneur, originally from New York City. Better known by his pseudonym Phiber Optik, he was once a member of the hacker groups Legion of Doom and Masters ...
, and was also embraced by New York's burgeoning technology sector known as
Silicon Alley.
@Cafe also made connections with early internet pioneers
The WELL, hosting their ten-year anniversary party a few weeks after they opened and was also an early meet up location of the Women's Technology advocacy group
Webgrrls
Aliza Sherman, also known as Aliza Pilar Sherman, Aliza Sherman Risdahl, and Cybergrrl (born December 19, 1964) is a new media entrepreneur, author, blogger, women's issues activist, and international speaker. She is known for her expertise in onli ...
.
@Cafe was one of the first businesses that was predicated on monetizing what had previously been the domain of academics and programmers.
When it opened, @Cafe was the largest internet-based cafe in New York City and was the only internet cafe with a full kitchen and bar.
It played host to a number of high-profile events, including a failed online meeting between the New York and Boston mayors
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 19 ...
and
Thomas Menino, the launch of the
Rolling Stones Voodoo Lounge CD-ROM,
The Wall Street Journal's Interactive Edition website premier,
a
Donna Karan
Donna Karan (, born Donna Ivy Faske), also known as "DK", is an American fashion designer and the creator of the Donna Karan New York and DKNY clothing labels.
Early life
Karan was born Donna Ivy Faske to mother Helen "Queenie" Faske (née Rabi ...
men's fragrance and website debut,
and a global and interactive New Year's Eve party on December 31, 1995 with the internet cafes CyberJava in Los Angeles, California and CyberSmith in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Corporate clients
MTV,
MasterCard,
IBM and
Budweiser also held technology events at the cafe.
The cafe also played host to an early web/television hybrid program called "Encarta On the Record."
The monthly program was moderated by journalist
Linda Ellerbee, produced by
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...
and Ellerbee's production company Lucky Duck and combined a live roundtable discussion with web-based resources through the
Encarta
''Microsoft Encarta'' is a discontinued Digital data, digital multimedia encyclopedia published by Microsoft from 1993 to 2009. Originally sold on CD-ROM or DVD, it was also available on the World Wide Web via an annual subscription, although l ...
web portal. The web audience could ask questions to the panel in real time, the audio of the discussion could be streamed and video images of the proceedings were updated every 8 seconds.
In contemporary interviews, Barnes and McGinnis spoke of opening a number of internet-based cafes around the world,
where technology novices and professionals could experience the full potential of the internet.
Despite media and public interest, @Cafe never broke even and closed in 1996 before additional locations or franchises could be opened.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cafe
Internet cafés
1995 establishments in New York City
1996 disestablishments in New York (state)