Many travellers are wondering whether they could leave their laptops at home and rely on Internet cafes to perform basic computing tasks. Although laptops are designed to be relatively lightweight, hauling even a compact netbook can be quite a hassle for many travellers during long-distance trips. Laptops add significant volume and weight to our backpack and there are numerous security concerns that we also need to consider. Also, travellers who bring a laptop could waste much of their time using it, instead of visiting local attractions. So, what if we leave our laptop home, could we survive digitally?
For people who habitually spend much of their time with computers each day, this could seem like a farfetched idea. However, we should consider that nearly any country has Internet cafe with solid connections and decent computers. This would mean that accessing our email will be much easier to do. One significant thing that we should consider is that smartphones and tablets could also help us perform various light computing tasks, without requiring us to visit any Internet cafe. However, some people could require more than a tablet, including the one equipped with external physical keyboard.
Professional writers may need to access real PC to become fully productive. In this case, they will simply bring a USB flash drive and work for a few hours each day. In this case, professionals could have an insight on how to be productive without bringing a laptop during vacations and other long-distance trips. By using Internet cafes, professionals could achieve maximum productivity and if allowed by the owner, they could install some software from the USB flash drive. The Internet cafe could become an office from people who are away from office and home. In many countries, hourly rates for Internet cafes are quite affordable, so this shouldn’t be a big concern.
In addition, some teenagers can’t escape the joy of online computer games and they need to access games that are not available on smartphones and tablets. Some Internet cafes offer popular online games and travellers could access their accounts easily. These cafes are also equipped with headphones so, we could play comfortably. On the other hand, professionals who are forced to go to Internet cafes that are also used for online gaming sessions, could use headphones to listen to music that they like. In essence, using Internet cafes for our computing purposes, could allow us the state of true portable computing.
We only need to carry a USB flash drive or a portable hard drive if it is necessary, so we can bring many essential files with us during a trip. External hard drives should take up very little room. As mentioned above, smartphones and tablets could also allow us do plenty of computing tasks. There are various office productivity apps that we can install into our smartphones and tablets. Although, these mobile gadgets are not really appropriate for intense typing, we could still view and perform light editing, so it isn’t necessary to visit Internet cafes too often. Also, email accounts will be accessible using these devices.