The BBC reports that Cuba has finally joined the modern world with the arrival of the first legalised home computers at the Carlos III shopping centre in Havana.

The BBC reports that the PCs are selling at $800 (£400) while the average monthly wage for Cubans is only $20 (£10) a month. However many Cubans have relatives living abroad who send cash back to the island.

President Raul Castro has been making moves towards modernisation in recent weeks with mobile phones and DVD players becoming available. However those who have been fortunate enough to get hold of one of the PCs won’t be joining us playing EVE Online or Day of Defeat as internet access is limited to certain workplaces and education facilities.

This is because of the US trade embargo with Cuba that prevents the island from connecting to under-sea fibre optic cables. Instead the internet access in Cuba is limited to costyl satellite connections.

Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez is currently laying a cable under the Carribean to Cuba, though it is not known if internet access will become common place once the new connection is laid.