Tablet-based cyber cafe in Senegal circumvents chronic power cuts

In much of Africa many people's access to the internet is limited to using internet cafes where computers are available by the hour. But keeping an internet cafe running in a place where electricity is expensive and power outages are common has proved to be a big challenge. But if these cybercafés used tablets instead of desktops, it may be possible to not only have more happy customers, but to also be able to save money on electricity. To that end, Google is sponsoring a trial of a tablet cafe in Dakar, called the Equinox, which now has 15 tablet computers to replace their desktop models, all of which are available to users for the same price as a normal session (about $0.60 USD per hour). Because tablets consume much less power than either desktops or laptops, operators could save a significant amount of money on electricity, and according to Google Africa Blog, these savings "can be reinvested in faster connectivity."