Computing and the Internet are catching on slowly in Vietnam as evidenced by the rise in IT users over the past few years. The Internet only came to be in Vietnam in 1997, and has steadily increased its user base since. In 2000 there was an estimated 60,000 Vietnamese citizens with ISP contracts (28). Today there are 250,000 Internet subscribers with one million computers and 1.26% of the population using the Internet (14). Home Internet connections are still slow, at an average connection time of 37 seconds compared to the international average of 10 seconds (44). however many more people gain access to the Internet in a different way.

In Vietnam, Internet cafes are the rage. Low cost, small establishments all over Vietnam help to bring Internet access to the entire country. 5,000 Internet cafes exist with more popping up all the time (9). The Internet cafe model lends itself to the Vietnamese marketplace as the enterprises charge consumers by the hour or fraction thereof, thereby eliminating the need for Vietnamese citizens to purchase their own computers and ISP subscriptions at still relatively high prices. As of 2001, Internet access per hour cost $1.20 (45). Vietnamese Internet access cost Internet cafes also cater to the younger generation of Vietnamese citizens as social hangouts. Most customers are ages 14-24 and use the Internet cafes to send email, and correspond with friends, while playing Internet-based games. Web surfing is still not popular among this age group or any other for that matter, as a recent study showed that only 10% of Internet cafe customers frequent world wide web sites. This may be due to the isolationist attitude of the Vietnamese culture, but may also be an offshoot of the Vietnamese Government's restrictions on web sites. 2,000 web sites are currently blocked by the government because of "corrupting information" (9). But, that doesn't seem to halt growth projections for Internet demand. The Vietnamese government expects Internet diffusion to substantially increase over the next few years with goals of 800,000 by 2003 and 1.6 million by 2005. (10)

All tolled, IT diffusion throughout Vietnam is on the right track especially with the younger generation. One can expect diffusion to be dominated by the Internet and not necessarily computer systems, as cost savings are attributed to not purchasing hardware. Many Vietnamese villages outside of Hanoi and Ho-Chi-Minh City simply do not have the resources available to connect directly with the Internet and therefore must do so through additional Internet cafes.