The independent internet cybercafes have all closed their doors. Not only in Sofia, but in pretty much every town throughout most of the country.

It seems that in just the past few years, Bulgarians have made the big switch en masse to owning a home computer and getting internet access, not unlike how the Romanian market has evolved during this same period. Advertisements are plastered all over the towns, announcing high speeds at cheap prices.

The internet providers not only put Americans to shame by offering speeds we cannot even buy, but they do it dirt cheap. 16 Mbps for 15€ in Bulgaria. Compare that to the United States, where you can only get a limp 6 Mbps and this slow crawl will set you back a whopping $40 or more each month.

And on top of it all, they provide wifi routers for all their clients by default. Yes, Virginia, a free wifi router –by default– provided by your ISP and preconfigured to be secure. That’s how it ought to be.

The economic impact should become obvious in 5 to 10 years, as Bulgaria leapfrogs from poverty to relative wealth. A strong internet infrastructure, very desirable real estate at growing (though reasonable) prices, and a well-developed tourism industry (Romanians should learn from their neighbors on this issue) all contribute to the boom.

Travel tip: Tourists can forget about finding internet cafes. They’re gone. Not just in the capital, either, but all across Bulgaria the well is dry. You can bring your iPhone or Eee PC and find hundreds of wireless connections on any given block, but you’ll also find out they’re secured.

Unless you’re in country for long period of time and get a 3G laptop modem, the typical tourist should prepare to be confined, largely, to your hotel for internet access. Make the effort to find out if any area eateries offer wifi by chance. Odds are they wont, since laptop-toting clients are still rare. If you get lucky and find one, you’re ahead of the game.

I was talking with a sibling on Skype tonight who, despite my recommendations that people avoid Vista like the plague, had gotten one of those “free upgrade” CDs with a recent computer purchase and decided to finally change her new machine from XP to the latest-n-greatest offering from Redmond.

So, I decided to smugly investigate how nice the new experience was.

Her speakers worked but the microphone was broken. She could hear me talking but had to respond by typing. She described to me in some detail about her hands-on review of Vista. The end of our conversation went something like this…

And you can guess my response…

Over my headset microphone, I said, “You are coming to a sad realization. Cancel or allow?”

UPDATE

Whoa, the hits keep rolling in. Just after posting, I shared a link with another relative and she gave her own review of Microsoft Windows Vista.

Gettin’ the idea, y’all?

Ţi am spus eu! Now, drop the naysay and get on board with the future, kids.  While the revolution may not yet be complete, rest assured that Windows is dead.  As I said.

Ubuntu, ahoy!

“SRI officials are testing a supersnoop computer system that sifts through personal information on Romanian citizens… Data can include credit-card purchases, telephone or Internet details, medical records, travel and banking information.”

“The SRI program is designed to extract relationships and correlations from large amounts of data… to use data mining technologies to sift through personal transactions in electronic data… to find ‘hidden relationships in the data’…”

“The technology is expected to analyze more than 3 million ‘relationships’ or connections per hour, says the report, which included an example of how friends, family members, locations and workplaces can be linked by pinging the data.”

Fiction, you say? It’s not possible for the Romanian government to have such massive tracking over Romanian citizens?

But I thought Romania was proudly working hard to mimic America.

Both photos from Romanian Stencil Archive

Without being forced to register for anything, you can get both your hands dirty right away searching for properties that meet your interest. There are an impressively robust number of parameters you can access to refine your search to deliver some fairly specific results.

For example, I was curious to find new apartment construction in Braşov which featured air conditioning (an amazingly rare thing). To do that, I access the filters in the right hand column.

Clicking on Braşov, the site indicated my choice with a green checkmark and then filtered out the other cities. For other filters, you just rinse, lather, repeat.

For some of areas outside Bucureşti, the number of results to be found are a little anemic. I gather this is largely due to the realities that most of this sort of development is happening the capital with a slower pace of growth in other major cities.

But what I was most impressed by was the fact that Rez.ro makes the effort to identify and present the construction initiatives across the country. A less-visionary group would have clung to the folly of myopic focus on Bucureşti exclusively. Instead, they’ve made a smart move to be inclusive.

So, once I’d been given a list of search results matching my criteria, it was time to take a look at the respectable number of details provided by Rez.ro’s online database. If the construction company makes the general property information available, then Rez.ro shares that with you.

For some properties there is more information than others. In my case, I could read some of the marketing information about the apartment having spacious design, energy-efficient storm windows, a phone jack in the bedroom, and other little data niceties.

One of the first things I wanted to do was click the thumbnail images for the property. Instead of popping up a new window (because we all use browsers like Firefox to block annoying popups, don’t we?) which might result in new tabs for some of us with 90 tabs open, the website developers made a very intelligent decision to simply overlay a layer right on top of the existing page.

Although Google does not have quality satellite photos of Romania (except decent quality in Bucureşti), people like Martin have implemented a system to overlay the location of the apartments on top of Google Maps in order to give you a good approximation as to where precisely the development is going on in your town.

As you see, Google’s images aren’t so hot for Braşov. But, if you know your own city, then you’ll recognize the location and immediately know where it’s located. Of course, Rez.ro will benefit in the future when Google updates their satellite photos to the “quite okay” level of detail available for Bucureşti.

For registered users, you can start/join a public bulletin board discussion about the property or even save it in your own list of ‘favorites’ which is basically a watch list you can use to keep track of apartment complexes you are interested in (or to keep up-to-date on the competition, if you’re in the real estate game).

Unfortunately, if you aren’t registered you get a rather unfriendly message.

Hopefully, Rez.ro will review little annoyances like that in the future. In this case, instead of a penalty message, the user should have been invited to sign up along with a short bullet list of reasons why (“what have you done for me lately?”).

From the details page, even unregistered people can email property details to someone, contact the property developers with your sales inquiry, or click for a list of the individual apartments inside the particular property in order to find a particular one.

Let’s say I want to be on the 3rd floor (not too high in case the elevator breaks, as the Romanian ones invariably do) but not on the lowest levels where you get lots of noise from passing cars and foot traffic.

Remember, my American friends, in Romania, the first floor is not called the first floor. It’s called the parter. And “etaj 1″ is the second floor…

Ah, here we go. Etaj 2, with three rooms, and rather sizable 108 square meters (approx.1162 sq ft).

Clicking for more details shows me the building has four floors, which means someone will be living above me. One and a half baths means I can direct guests to the toilet that isn’t cluttered with bathroom malarkey.

Oh, look, a floorplan layout! Say, that looks relatively swanky in my book.

I hope Rez.ro has someone tasked with getting higher resolution images, because I’d like to see that floorplan a bit larger. Sometimes getting timely cooperation from property developers can be like pulling teeth, so I’m happy to see they have anything at all.

Since I haven’t won the Romanian lottery, how would I go about paying for this comfortable living space? Well, Rez.ro has the pertinent information broken down for you with a nice financial review of what the terms are for your particular apartment.

And that’s what’s ultimately motivating this website. I’m sure you’ve been wondering what kindly soul dreamt up such a great system for researching new apartment construction in Romania. Quite simply, they’re hoping to make a buck by helping you finance your purchase.

CreditLink is the driver behind the wheel here. From what I gather, they’re essentially playing the role of mortgage broker. They’ll help you get organized for a loan application, then work with several major lenders in order to get you approved. For their blood, sweat, and tears necessary to make sure you get that beautiful apartment, they pick up a fat commission.

Everybody wins!

I think CreditLink has a real winner on it’s hands with Rez.ro. The work being done by folks like Andu and Martin should have a big pay-off down the line. This is one of those great projects that borrows good ideas from other countries, then localizes them for the Romanian market.

Someone’s gotta do it. And these people have done a fine job indeed. I think it’s absolutely great that someone put together a solid plan based on a vision of what can be done here in Romania. Combine that with some quality execution and you get Rez.ro, a website you can easily recommend to friends in the market for new apartments.

Martin indicates an English version will be arriving in March.

In my mysterious past, I’ve had direct experience with exactly what it takes to create and market a complex, profitable, online real estate system which had previously never been seen before in the United States. Therefore, I am quite certain a large amount of work has been poured into Rez.ro and what its’ potential for long-term valuation might be.

There are a number of ways in which CreditLink can further monetize the value of this web application, but they’ll have to keep a steady hand on the wheel to determine which opportunities should be passed over, for fear of driving away users, and which revenue streams should absolutely not be overlooked.

I hope they continue to refine the system, add new features, and invest in the human resources necessary to dramatically improve the quality and amount of content. Content development and cooperative partnerships will improve the user experience, provide alternate revenue streams, and drive the core mortgage brokering business.

They’ll also need to keep a very close eye on scalability, because any poor performance of the site will become part of the brand. It was running very fast when I first tried it a couple weeks ago, but today it was noticeably slower.

You can easily forgive that because they’re the only game in town as far as I know. However, when the competition arrives trumpeting some shiny new website, you don’t want to be known as that old slow site.

In the meantime, congratulations to whole team behind Rez.ro for their efforts to develop a truly innovative player in the Romanian real estate market. I’d rate CreditLink’s Rez.ro as a strong example for other companies to follow the lead of and for other industries to view as a role model.

The Romanian real estate industry has begun evolving.

T’aint so.

After Dell’s open forum for ideas, it would see that the company is wisely responding to demand.  Apparently, customers do want the option to buy computers with something like Ubuntu pre-installed, the option to have OpenOffice instead of paying hundreds for MS Office, and the better browsing experience that comes with standards-compliant, modern browsers like Firefox (or Opera).

Still here?  Put on your thinking cap and download today.

So, what do they want?

1. By a two-to-one margin over the next most popular request, clearly outstripping all other requests, is a strong demand for linux computers. Such as Ubuntu, pre-installed. I’m tellin’ y’all: the wheels are in motion and linux is the future.

Yabbit, what’s the number two request, then?

2. Customers want computers to come with OpenOffice.org pre-installed instead of the expensive Microsoft Office suite.

As mentioned in 2005, if you haven’t tried OpenOffice in your place of business or at home, then I’d encourage you to give it a whirl. Don’t worry, it opens MS Office documents from your colleagues and you can even create MS Office documents, if you want.

So, what else are customers asking for?

4. Linux laptops.

5. Computers without Windows.

7. Computers with Firefox as the default web browser instead of Internet Explorer.

Lemme tell ya, if you’re one of those people who still clicks on “the blue e to get the intarwebs” then it’s time for you to wake up. Downloading Firefox is not a time-consuming effort. Come, join the rest of us here in the 21st century.

Fun stuff. Yes, I feel a little like gloating smugly.

Why? Dell has lied for years about “there’s no customer demand for linux products” because they’ve made backroom deals with Microsoft. The way it works is that when you go to buy a Dell computer (the most popular computers in the world), you are given a choice between XP and XP Pro.

That’s it. No “sell me a computer with nothing.” No “sell me a computer with Ubuntu.” They just ignore it, offer you Windows or Windows, and pretend to toe the party line about how everyone loves Microsoft.

But, y’know, things are at a crossroad. Dell has been having some troubles recently and they can foresee that Vista is going to hurt their sales. So, they decided to openly ask their customers and let everyone see the answers.

People are tired of Windows and Office. They want free, open-source solutions.

As I dismount from my high-horse and get back to the normalcy of realizing the world won’t turn upside down overnight, I just wanted to mention one more thing. You hear that rumbling far off in the distance? It’s the clue train and it’s coming your way.

I think Apple is making a strategic mistake with respect to their pricing in Romania. Granted, I understand revenue models vary and, often times, one of the more profitable routes is to sell fewer units at higher margins.

But these are temporary times of new opportunity for Apple to gain marketshare while Microsoft’s horrid Vista product reveals itself to be the flop that it is. A moment in time where people, in larger numbers than previously, say to themselves, “you know, I should dump this Windows junk, but what is my alternative?”

Apple knows they must strike while the iron is hot which is why they’ve launched a barrage of mildly humorous adverts (and hilarious ones in the UK). The bigwigs in Cupertino are hip to the crack in Redmond’s armor. Bill Gates’ team has really blown it this time around.

It’s a full-court press and the Apple war chest is being put to very good use as the company bobs and weaves in the ring, jabbing away at chair-throwing opponents.

In the United States, Apple has worked very hard to tighten its’ belt and compete on price. There’s been an outdated cliche about Macs being expensive, but that old wives’ tale hasn’t been true for years.

The fact is plain: feature for feature, Apple products are highly competitive on hardware and simply blow the doors off when talking about software.

It’s a better machine, a better experience, and a better bargain.

Surely, thought I, Apple must be sensitive to the economic realities of Romania’s significantly lower income levels and make their best effort to offer their products as far down as they dare, during this momentous opportunity.

Heck, with the typical income having skyrocketed to a mindboggling $544 per month, I thought the Apple prices in Romania must be, at least, roughly the same.

Bzzzt!

Not only is Romania in the Middle East actively subsidizing the American invasion of Iraq and the looming British (by proxy) invasion of Iran, but it would seem they’re being asked to compensate for low computer prices in the US as well.

Let’s take a look at how blatantly obvious the situation is, shall we?

Starting at the entry-level, Apple offers the Mac Mini which is designed for people who want to use their existing PC monitors, keyboard, and mouse. Just upgrade the box to this little doozy.

It’s a stylish piece which makes considerably less noise than your typical PC and takes up dramatically less space in your home or office. It’s dual-core platform packs a punch strong to enough to handle most people’s requirements for a computer such as email, web, video chat, watching movies, editing photos, composing music, home-networking, et cetera.

For many PC users looking to convert, this might be the right package for them. It’s priced quite nicely in America even after taxes for, say, Houston. How about Germany or Romania? Not so pretty.

Wow! Romanians are asked to pay an extra 33% than their American counterparts, even though they make substantially less income on average. No doubt this will curb popular adoption of an otherwise great product which should perfectly fit many Romanian pocketbooks, if not for the gross oversight.

What if you’re just buying your first computer? Or what if you’re sick of your nasty old monitor and the rollerball mouse that hardly works? Well, Apple has a solution for you: the iMac.

It’s a highly stylish feat of engineering where Apple designers have essentially placed a very powerful computer on the back of an LCD flat-panel monitor which takes up very little room without any need for a big clunky PC box.

There’s a gorgeous 20″ monitor available with a built-in, high quality webcam already included. It does everything you want like creating your own movies, burning DVDs, video games, and pretty much anything else with nearly effortless ease.

This marvel of machinery is very well priced in the US market, even after Seattle tax rates. Do the myriad of zillionaires in Romania get the short end of the stick, again? You bet they do.

The financially-burdened peasants from the west can get the same computer for only 75% of the price charged to wealthy Romanians living in their lavish castles in the sky.

It’d be better to take a train to Germany and come back home to Romania. One might have expected the opposite to be true, but apparently Apple isn’t interested in Romanian marketshare and has ill-advisedly given up on a nation fiscally forced to pirate Windows 98.

Naturally, one becomes a little more nervous when taking a look at something higher-end like the drool-worthy 17″ MacBook Pro laptop.

This is no mere lil’ notebook computer, but a high-powered, mobile unix workstation dripping with OS X ease-of-use glory. It has all the extras you might expect in a top-of-the-line laptop: illuminated keyboard, Firewire, DVD burner, Bluetooth, Wifi, built-in video camera, dual-core processors, and much more. It’s thin, weighs nothing, looks gorgeous and is totally silent.

This is serious professional grade gear and yet the price still beats comparable machines from Sony, Dell, Toshiba, and whomever.

Well, it’s a good price in Los Angeles. But not in Romania.

It’s the same behavior all over again. Romanians are asked to pay a 33% premium over the American price. Think about it in raw dollars… it’s a bonus of US$1,123. Well over a grand? There is no reasonable explanation for that.

Folks, for that kind of money, I can take a flight all the way from Bucureşti to the far west coast city of Seattle with only 2 weeks advance notice. The flight stops over in Schiphol airport and you’ve got some flexibility to keep your itinerary efficient or to maximize your layover so you can stretch your legs for many hours and enjoy the town.

Are the executives responsible for European sales ignorant and incompetent? Could it be some matter of disrespect for the potential of the Romanian market? Or is it just possible that Apple enjoys robbing Romania?

You tell me. With the chance to spend two half-days (or longer!) in Amsterdam plus visit Seattle, America’s best city, why on earth would I bother to buy higher end products at the Romanian Apple Store?

Cue the sound of crickets.