I see people lugging their laptops inside coffee shops and stay there for hours nursing one cup of latte. The cup, amazingly, lasts for hours.
In New York, coffee shop owners are (finally) pulling the plug on laptop users. Some have totally forbidden laptop use in their shops by locking the electric outlets while the others have decided to apply rules as to when laptops are allowed – lunch time and mid-afternoons bar laptop use inside the cafes. Businessowners want to give more priority to other customers. Besides, laptops in great numbers occupy so much real estate in the coffee shops which ultimately, push away paying customers. Also, loafing around the coffee shop for an indefinite amount of time while surfing the web or conducting their own little business in one corner, is really inappropriate and unfair to the businessowners.
In Starbucks, before you gain access to their wi-fi, you have to purchase something and in exchange for that, they’ll give you a limited time pass to use their wi-fi. I’m not sure if the other coffee shops like Coffee Bean, Gloria Jeans and San Francisco use the same treatment for their laptop customers.
While it’s true that coffee shops encouraged laptop users to hang out in their businesses, some customers have become abusive over the years. Some people even conduct interviews inside the coffee shops and turned one table into a temporary mobile office!
I’m not affected by the new rules they impose on laptop customers (if the local franchise decide to adopt the same rules) because I don’t bring my laptop inside coffee shops. I always carry a wireless modem with me, anyway. Plus, I cannot concentrate with all the chatter, grinding and hissing of the coffee equipment on the background. It reminds me of the interview I had at Seattle’s Best. I was so distracted with the noise. I don’t understand how can those laptop users focus with so much noise around them.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
The Love-Hate Affair Between Coffee Shops And Laptop Users
Labels: Coffee talk
Posted by Mari at 8/06/2009
6 comments:
"The more things change, the more they stay the same."
Funny but I've always thought this particular aspect of Starbucks' business model wasn't sustainable. All it would take is a severe financial crunch for them to effect changes to this stupid policy.
I always knew that this practice was not only subject to abuse but also an unprofitable one for Starbucks in the long run. It was not a very efficient use of restaurant space and time. It also tended to drive more customers away than attract them because inconsiderate customers will always annoy the good ones. The sight of an individual whiling away the hours surfing the web and denying another person access to a table and chair to have a coffee or breakfast always annoys the heck out of me. That's one reason enough for me to stay away.
I'm guilty of bringing my laptop in a coffee shop, but that was before when wifi card is available for purchased in coffee shops .... :P
Now, My laptop always stays home...
People using the coffee shops for internet are the freeloaders, the unemployed and showoffs. If they are so desperate for a wifi, just park near my house and you could receive a signal from my wireless broadband. Just a thought.
I have used my laptop for indefinite amounts of time in food places, and I usually eat plenty. Still, in my old home of Redding, I njoted that most of the places I enjoyed surfing the web were ones that went out of business... because they were not drawing any business at all.
I hate crowded places. I love my local library. It is totally free, and no one has trouble fin dind a place to plug in...
Thanks for the blog
When I want to get my creative juices out and flowing, I bring my notebook with me and head over to my favorite coffee place. It's good to see activity outside of non-confined spaces and that helps me think a lot. I guess that just how I am as a learner. And because I am aware that I shouldn't abuse the free wifi, I don't stay for more than 2 hours. I guess it's not inappropriate to bring one's laptop as long as there's awareness of one's responsibility and actions towards other paying customers and to the establishment itself.
I bought a 5 dollar coffee card at Starbucks and was allowed 2 hours of wifi every time I visited their joint :) I find this useful when I travel during vacations. I was curious to find out how long they will let me use the free wifi but since I finished the 5 bucks in a couple of visits, wasnt able to check it out :)
It's a great incentive for people to come in and buy something.
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