A new concept in IT retail was unveiled in Benoni this week.
Brainchild of open source stalwart, Denis Brandjes, the new store is dubbed the Zygo Zone, and the first outlet is located in the Rynfield Shopping Centre.
Although based on the concept of an Internet caf'e, Brandjes says Zygo is far more. "It's the full portfolio of services, differentiated by offering an Internet-connected place for both work and play."
He says the technology store offers business services, such as those available from typical copy shops, along with graphic design, Web development and hosting, an Internet caf'e (and reseller of iBurst), as well as a PC and console gaming arcade.
"We'll also be selling the latest PlayStation games," adds Brandjes.
Customers can rent time on any of the networked PCs or on the game consoles in segments as small as 15 minutes. They also have access to any of the on-site "geeks" should they run into trouble, "which is unlikely considering most of the PCs use Linux," he says.
He reports since the store opened on Monday - official opening is tomorrow (Thursday) - there hasn't been any negative reaction to the use of Linux. This choice, he says, was made to keep costs down.
Over December, he expects the gaming side of the business to be the busiest, as buyers will be able to play a game before buying it. "They'll be able to come in and play the latest game at a marginal cost per 15 minute slice. If they then purchase the game, we discount the price by the amount they spent trying it out."
Another facility Brandjes expects to be popular over the school holidays is the networked PCs, which will allow for LAN- and Web-based gaming.
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