Following up on our mention of Maid Cafes in Tokyo, another less obscure type of cafe has surfaced in America’s newspapers. The New York Times is reporting on the preponderance of media immersion pod cyber-cafes in Japan [via slashdot]. While you must surely be familiar with cyber-cafes, you may not be aware of the Japanese take (not to be confused with the kind where people die in fires or from sheer exhaustion). You rent a cubicle outfitted with various media devices: television, internet access, playstation, books, papers, magazines. Then you proceed to read, and listen, and consume sugary beverages and tasty sandwiches. All the media is included with the price of admission. The foodstuffs are not. I wasn’t under the impression that this was a new phenomenon. Over the past few years, Aya and I have learned to hang out in just such a place in Naha, Okinawa. What with Okinawa being somewhat isolated from mainland Japan, I’d have to expect this to be a longstanding business model. I do have to say that the cafe in Naha is not as dark, and does not stay open 24 hours, but they do have fancy massage chairs for your use. In any case, the concept is great, and I’d love to have that here, but something tells me this would never fly in the states. I think here, geeks still like to geek out at home.