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What to Do When Laptops and Silence Take Over Your Cafe?

nytimes.com

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Re: What to Do When Laptops and Silence Take Over Your Cafe?

#71

Post by JumpCrisscross »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #39
kenning wrote: post #12

If I bought a cup of coffee at your shop and sat down, only for you to tell me that laptops are "not allowed," I'd be very unhappy with your store. Anyway, this is why coworking spaces exist.

Your $3 coffee doesn't entitle you to sit there for an hour though. If I was running a cafe, I'd expect that you'd be leaving within 5 to 10 minutes of finishing your coffee. The very few times I've worked in a coffee shop, I've done that myself. It's not a coworking space.

> Your $3 coffee doesn't entitle you to sit there for an hour though

Read up on the history of cafes. This is what they historically were—places for people to be, not grab and go. If a coffee shop owner wants grab and go customers, they’re a glorified vending machine. (The article notes a conversation-versus-quiet dynamic that I can better empathise with.)

Re: What to Do When Laptops and Silence Take Over Your Cafe?

#72

Post by benbreen »

xxs wrote: post #63
tonyedgecombe wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Before laptops people would sit around reading newspapers or books, I'm not sure it's changed that much.

Trying to use the premises (incl. toilets) to do business instead of leisure is quite the change. Also it's somewhat off-putting for the people trying to have the leisure.

Lloyd’s of London began as a 17th century coffee house where people who sold marine insurance hung out. They’ve been used for business (and studying) as well as leisure since their inception.

Re: What to Do When Laptops and Silence Take Over Your Cafe?

#73

Post by oneeyedpigeon »

dawnerd wrote: post #38

A cafe thats hostile towards their customers is a great way to get a bad review and a lost customer. If you don't want people working there don't provide tables or chairs.

Some people like to sit down, or rest their food on a flat surface. If you don't want people working there, take away the power, the WiFi, and play some music. Maybe even make the tables smaller, but don't take them away altogether!

Re: What to Do When Laptops and Silence Take Over Your Cafe?

#74

Post by oneeyedpigeon »

anonytrary wrote: post #52
foepys wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People working on their laptops are actually not a paying customer. Yes, they might come in and buy a single coffee but then they sit in a corner for 3 hours and occupy a seat that could go to other customers that are actually buying things that make a cafe money. It also has something to do with atmosphere. A cafe should have light chatter and people socializing. If the majority is sitting around in silence, it take…

> it takes away from the special feeling a cafe normally has If people start using Cafes differently, why hold them to a forgotten standard? Cafes should see a business opportunity in that they can align themselves further with the needs of the consumer. Either that, or the consumer walks.

It's up to the cafe owner, really. If they want a cafe with a certain type of atmosphere, it's reasonable for them to take measures to achieve it.

Re: What to Do When Laptops and Silence Take Over Your Cafe?

#75

Post by randycupertino »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #8

> At Triniti, Mr. Wynn offers free Wi-Fi, but after two hours a customer must have “a face-to-face interaction” with an employee, he says, to get a new password This is the best approach. (The "a staff member will approach the uninitiated customer whose laptop is open for more than a couple of minutes with a gentle but firm request ‘to finish up what you’re doing and close the laptop, please,’ approach is the worst.…

Or just set a purchase minimum. Must buy $x worth of stuff for every few hours you spend there. Seems fair.

Cafes aren't your free all-day office offering complimentary wifi for the price of a $2 coffee, they're businesses trying to make money to pay their rent.

Re: What to Do When Laptops and Silence Take Over Your Cafe?

#76

Post by anonytrary »

oneeyedpigeon wrote: post #74
anonytrary wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it takes away from the special feeling a cafe normally has If people start using Cafes differently, why hold them to a forgotten standard? Cafes should see a business opportunity in that they can align themselves further with the needs of the consumer. Either that, or the consumer walks.

It's up to the cafe owner, really. If they want a cafe with a certain type of atmosphere, it's reasonable for them to take measures to achieve it.

Yeah, but Darwin resumes. Places that don't make it convenient to pull out a laptop might not see as much traffic in 2050.

Re: What to Do When Laptops and Silence Take Over Your Cafe?

#77

Post by randycupertino »

uranusjr wrote: post #70

I’m somewhat surprised by the article. There is recently a giant indi cafe boom in Taipei that made it one of the most developed cafe city in Asia, but almost all well-regarded shops do everything they could to keep the place as quiet as possible . Maybe it’s the introvert eastern Asian culture in play here, I don’t know. The article assumes it is abnormal for cafes to be taken over by silence, but I mean, it’s total…

I don't think it's the silence the owners really care about, it's more that people aren't paying and they hog the seats all day for the price of a $2 coffee.

Re: What to Do When Laptops and Silence Take Over Your Cafe?

#78

Post by baby »

RossM wrote: post #58
ballooney wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't paid-by-the-byte for 4G for about half a decade now. It's unlimited with my reasonably priced monthly contract (about $30USD/mo), from a mainstream provider in the UK (Three), lets me tether and gives me free data when I'm abroad too (I'm in the US and France a few times a year typically). I hope this doesn't sound too let-them-eat-cake, but I'm surprised that anyone with work-on-app-in-a-café-in-a-trendy-c…

I'm on that all-you-can-eat tariff with Three as well, but tethered data is normally limited to 30GB/month or so. Did you make any account changes to get unlimited or are you bypassing the tethering detection? I haven't seen unlimited tether plans, but it would mean I could work virtually anywhere.

Change your ttl to 65 and you'll be fine

Re: What to Do When Laptops and Silence Take Over Your Cafe?

#79

Post by s73v3r_ »

taneq wrote: post #2

How common is it for people to do actual, regular, serious work at coffee shops and the like? I've tried a couple of times and I always feel like such a pretentious wanker when I pull out a laptop and start working on stuff, like I'm somehow broadcasting "oh look at me, I work remotely, aren't I special?"

I know a few people who do. One still lives with her parents (she freelances while going to school and tending bar at the family business). Her room is small, so it's mostly set up for relaxing. Thus, coffee shops for working.

Re: What to Do When Laptops and Silence Take Over Your Cafe?

#80

Post by randycupertino »

CaliforniaKarl wrote: post #61

I wonder how often places will change up their music as a way to shift things. The example I'm thinking of is Philz in Sunnyvale. Starting some time around the new year, every time I've been there they've been playing much harder & louder music. When I'm at a place, I prefer to be there without headphones, to show that I'm not completely disconnecting from the outside world. But with some of the music that's been pla…

There's also a noticeable trend of tea shops and cafes buying more and more uncomfortable chairs to try and dissuade people from hanging around too long.
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