Nineteen ninety nine seems like a long time ago in terms of the internet and web development in Seychelles. Back then people were asking questions like “What’s a website” and “How does it work” rather than “How can my website attract more visitors”. I learned the basis in London then came to Seychelles for a holiday. I was surprised that most business men and women were just not well versed with this new technology. In a speech around that time Bill Gates said “There will come a time where if your business is not on the internet you won’t have a business at all.”
I’m not sure if we’ve arrived at that point yet, although it’s true that lots more business is being transacted through the internet even in Seychelles. Back in 1999 prospective customers would just look at websites and decide if they wanted to book a guest house or car hire for their holiday. Today, by using some websites and portals they are now able to enter their credit card numbers in a box and pay a small deposit to secure their accommodation and car hire.
So people are now using the internet in a slightly different way, they are becoming familiar with the ecommerce idea where goods and services can be purchased online with a credit card rather than simply viewing a website. A large proportion of the Seychellois population uses facebook several time a day for gossip and keeping up with their friends activities. This is web 2.0 which works on the basis of two part communication rather than web 1.0 which was simply I put the information on the internet and you read it. So the internet has drastically changed since 1999 and many more people in Seychelles are finding original practical uses like selling household objects and cars through the social network facebook.
We’ve come a long way online since 1999 and we still have some way to go to be on the same level as most European countries. For now most Seychellois business men and women are relived to know that although more work is needed to bring the internet in Seychelles up to speed. They’re comforted to know that people living in other countries can view content posted in Seychelles at the same high speeds as everyone else.
Thanks for the article Claude!
Year 1999 was a turning point for me because it was the year I learned how to use a computer! For my 16th birthday, my elder brother decided to teach my twin sister and I how to turn a computer on and off…I will always remember his words: “don’t hesitate to explore; no matter what you do you won’t break the computer”. 1999 was also the year I started using the internet. Yahoo Chatroom was very popular back then. It was the year I got my very first email address. The good ol’ days, eh? Cheers.
It’s my pleasure Sabrina, The old seynews website bought back some found memories. I still remember Gwilym saying I’ve had a great idea for a community website on a cold Saturday in England. That was long before the days of facebook and twitter. The big lesson here is a good community website has to have a robust business plan behind it. We live and learn. It should be interesting to see what the next 1,000 years will bring us online:-)
It should be interesting to see how much the internet will change in the country within the next 5 years.