Docu On Cuba's Wifi Spots Stirs Memories Of A Time When The Internet Was All About Being Closer

Do you remember the first time you connected to the Internet? Where were you? What did it feel like? I don't recall my first time exactly, but I'm pretty sure it was somewhere around 1998–2000. At this time in Poland (because this is where I grew up), the Internet could be accessed mostly by a telephone modem, which made this loud, unforgettable dial-up sound as you connected. I do clearly remember the excitement of these early days: my stomach knotted in anticipation as the beep sounded. I also remember the anxiety: the Internet was quite pricey at this point, so I knew my parents would scold me even before I got online. So why was I connecting? Not at first, but soon enough, I used the Internet mostly to connect to my school friends, first via e-mails and then via chats. 

Published by the Guardian, this Sundance short doco brought that memory back, making me think about the time when the Internet was all about connecting to one another. Directed by Cuban-born Zoe Garcia, "Conectifai" (meaning "Connection") paints a moving portrait of a public wifi hotspot in a park of Entronque de Herradura, where Cubans get to experience the Internet, many of them for the first time.

Around 40 percent of the island's 11 million inhabitants connected to the Internet in 2017, 37 percent more than in 2010, wrote Reuters recently. All internet service is controlled by Cuba's only telephone company ETECSA and is primarily provided through paid, government-approved wifi hotspots scattered throughout the country. Connecting to the Internet is difficult and requires a lot of patience (just read this article by Wired to see how much). But the animated faces of Cubans looking at theirs screens shown in the documentary, whether it's families video chatting with loved ones abroad or teenagers looking for online dates, seem to indicate that it's all worth the hassle, just as it was for me 20 years ago.