An $800 commie bargain with no internet access...
Posted on 05/03/2008 10:37:30 AM PDT by george76
The first legalised home computers have gone on sale in Cuba, but a ban remains on internet access.
This is the latest in a series of restrictions on daily life which President Raul Castro has lifted in recent weeks.
Crowds formed at the Carlos III shopping centre in Havana, though most had come just to look.
The desktop computers cost almost $800 (£400), in a country where the average wage is under $20 (£10) a month.
But some Cubans do have access to extra income, much of it from money sent by relatives living abroad.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
Sheesh! Behind the times much?
Whole lot of changing going on.
But they discovered they could only buy Vista, and promptly banned them again.
Can anyone imagine that there is more than one or two people inside cuba who even know how to turn a computer on, much less what to do with it after it's up and running.
Communism? A wonderful Utopian lifestyle, isn't it?
LOL
At last, we’ve found a market for all those “state of the art” atari 130xe’s and apple IIe’s.
It just baffles me how the left-wing, Hollywood types ABSOLUTELY LOVE a place like this (for other people, of course, they would not be willing to accept it for themselves.) Not only have they not been permitted access to information, but they need people living in a free(ish) society to fund their rights when they are meted out to them...
No internet access
Not only could the average Cuban not afford to buy a computer, but what use would they have for it? Certainly not to balance their bank accounts or manage their private businesses. Clearly Internet access is not available to anyone except party bosses and “journalists” (propaganda writers). In a society where what little money you can scrape together goes for food and basic necessities, the availability of computers and cellphones is meaningless.
An $800 commie bargain with no internet access...
The same uses as the rest of the world: Porn and video games.
I wouldn't underestimate them. The Russia and China had no problem adapting to computers, especially for organized crime.
Or electricity.
Let's not forget those early Trash-80's, TI 99's (Now that was a "computer" lol), Timex/Sinclair, and the highly touted but very short lived SV. Also that little Epson "laptop" complete with built in mini tape drive and the Osborne "portable".
They could revive the market for those 5 1/4 floppys too.
lol
No internet access or possibly a good blackmarket for smugglers and cadre members to import satellite internet dishes into Cuba?
51/4"??? These guys'll be lucky to have the 8" babies!
PS - I think I still have one of these in the attic...
Then too there was those "winchester" drives. A great advance back in the day.
And who could forget CP/M? :0)
I say ONE year till freedom reigns in CUBA.
Craigslist Havana should be up and running by next week.
Now, the USA needs to lift the ban on Cuban Cigars so those other than politicians can get them. (legally)
I agree with you...freedom is close. It will be a mad dash for those here to go back and claim ownership of lost assets. It will be a big mess to sort out, at least for a while. Cuba will quickly become the top travel destination in the world.
Their government must have figgered out a way to put reverse cameras in the ‘puter screens.
ROFL! Ah, yes. Good 'ol CP/M. I'd bet some people might want to forget. lol
I just took a look and found my CP/M manuals stuck way up on the top shelf of a bookcase.
CP/M Operating System Manual published by Digital Research P.O.Box 957 Pacific Grove, California 93950
I wonder if they're still around?
I also found a couple of old TRSDOS manuals, a bunch of old Apple stuff and even an old OS9 manual for the Trash-80 CoCo. Some original IBM PC stuff too.
Maybe I could contact somebody down in Cuba and sell it. lol
Hey, leave the Apple II alone. :’)
Cuba can splurge and get those laptops intended for the 3rd world (where there isn’t any electricity or wi-fi).
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1366688/posts
They’ll have the Cuban Government internet. What better way to send out mass propaganda?
At last, we may have a market for old Commodore 64’s.
Well good. They can have some of mine!
Wonder what bonehead commie thinks that is ok? Their system will crash if they let people touch computers.
The Cubans will now be spending hours upon hours playing Pong, Pacman & Donkey Kong instead of toiling in the fields.
(I have a Pacman 'gadget' on my Google page and I'm hooked on the darn thing. Thank God I don't need any quarters.)
Well at least with Donkey Kong, they’ll be reminded of El Jeffe when he throws those burning barrels around and beats his chest like, eerr, an ape. ;)
Libertarian ping! To be added or removed freepmail me or post a message here.
Anyone else think that dropping all bans and restrictions would be the quickest and best way to get rid of the Castro regime? No love for socialists, but I have never seen what good the blockade and other actions have done as far as helping the Cuban people (mollifying folks in Florida who got screwed by the revolution, yes, doing GOOD for the folks on the island, no). I think even us conservatives fall victim to ‘feel good’ policies.
Just curious, but we broadcast radio to them, would it be possible to set a ship off shore and offer Wi-Fi to them, with sensitive receivers to pick up their weak signals back?
More than you’d think...there are lots of pirated internet connections out there.
There is no greater proponent for the US embargo (and travel restrictions) than fidel castro himself.
It has been his most sturdy crutch since the defeat of the USSR.
You raise perfectly reasonable points, but the fact is Cuba can trade with any other country in the world. America isn't keeping Cuba poverty-stricken, it's stupid Marxist system does that very well indeed.
If socialism is so great why do they need to shoot anyone who tries to get on a raft and escape the Gubmint central planning utopia?
Why do they need to censor and prevent people from hearing an alternative viewpoint?
Maybe the leftists in America can try to explain why citizens are leaving liberal states in droves and why they need a fairness doctrine.
Agreed, sanctions are worthless and counterproductive, IMO.
Interesting idea, don’t know how far wifi reaches, I can barely borrow my neighbors sometimes. :)
good questions
We all know the answer.
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