As the Internet reaches further, and becomes mundane in many ways, we may stop expecting we’ll have to carry our technology with us. After all, we don’t assume we have to carry a room phone, a television and other such technology along, so why should we have to carry a computer that’s any heavier than zero pounds?
Where can you find the zero-pounder?
Start with the local public library. Many now have Windows personal computers or Macintoshes, often with some basic word-processing software, nearly always with a pretty speedy Internet connection. And they’re free! All you have to do, in most libraries, is sign in for your half-hour or hour of use, so others can know when their turn will come.
How do you get your electronic mail when connecting with someone else’s computer and Internet service provider? The easiest way is to sign up for a free e-mail service such as Hotmail, Juno, RocketMail, Yahoo Mail, LycosEmail, MailExcite, AmExMail or hundreds of others.
Most let you check your e-mail from any Web browser. Some also let you check for e-mail from your account with an Internet service provider, or ISP, if the ISP follows the industry-standard “POP3” format. Some include mail-forwarding abilities and a few will forward your e-mail to a fax or pager address. There’s no space here to compare the many services, but you can poke around yourself by looking for “free e-mail” with your favorite search engine or by going to a list such as “Free E-mail Address Directory” (emailaddresses.com).
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By the way, there are two other advantages of such services:
They can provide a permanent e-mail address, assuming they don’t go out of business, one that doesn’t change when you switch Internet service providers.
They can provide anonymity, blocking a recipient from knowing who you are when you send a message.
If you just want to check e-mail from your ISP account without opening a free e-mail account, there are two Web-based services that will retrieve and display your messages: “MailStart” (mailstart.com) and “ReadMail” (readmail.com).
Back to the question of finding a computer: You can also check in many of today’s hotels. A few have rooms with Internet access, such as through a WebTV or other Internet terminal attached to the television.
Many larger hotels have a “business center” that can send and receive faxes and rent you various equipment, from pagers and cell phones to PCs or Macs. These might cost $20 per hour in the business center itself or $150 to $250 per day for you to take away to your room or around town. The charges can be steep because the centers expect you’re putting it all on expense account. Even faxes can cost $5 for the first page and $3 for each additional page. Expect the minimum computer charge to grab only a bare-bones system. Each item you add–printer, modem, software–will quickly boost the price. And don’t assume the business center computers are attached to the Net. Often they’re not. These places can be so behind that they’re still renting out typewriters for $10 an hour.
Some airports now have computers sealed in kiosks. You plug in a credit card as though buying self-serve gas, and set to work on the Web or e-mail. Again, you may want one of the free e-mail services to take full advantage of this. You pay around $2.50 for every 10 minutes, or $15 an hour.
Cyber-cafes are another reliable choice. These are coffee shops or even restaurants that have added a few computers.
Rentals run from free–if you’re buying some food and drink–to $5 or $12 an hour. Many cyber-cafes are small operations in college towns. Some are parts of chains with names like Cybersmith and Cyberia, cropping up in big towns on several continents.