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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?

#111

Post by YeGoblynQueenne »

badsectoracula wrote: post #92

This article feels is one of the very few cases where i read something online and totally feels weird to me due to where i am from. In Greece coffee shops are really mainly places to hang out and staying for hours on a single coffee is pretty much normal and expected. There is a huge "coffee culture" here. Me and my friends would go for a coffee at 6pm (or later 7pm, due to jobs) and often leave at 11pm or sometimes…

I'm Greek too and I had the same thoughts. Specifically that it's perfectly possible to have a profitable business while expecting your customers to take over four or five seats for several hours for the price of a single coffee per head- because all the cafés I went to when I was in Greece did exactly that and they stayed in business for ever (most are still open like 12 years after I emigrated).

The difference is probably in the fact that Greeks go to the cafés with their friends. You almost never see a single person sitting at a table with a coffee cup for hours on end- except in the traditional cafés (kafeneio, vs cafeteria) that have basically single-person tables.

It works for the café because if you have a parea of five that stay around for five hours, that's like having five single customers each hogging a table for an hour- except you can accommodate several groups at once so you sell many more coffees per table than you would if your clientelle were single remote workers and their laptops.

Maybe, if it became much more common for remote workers working from cafés in Greece, then the economics would change- and our (café) culture would be in danger :)

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

#112

Post by jclardy »

JorgeGT wrote: post #98
badsectoracula wrote: post #92

This article feels is one of the very few cases where i read something online and totally feels weird to me due to where i am from. In Greece coffee shops are really mainly places to hang out and staying for hours on a single coffee is pretty much normal and expected. There is a huge "coffee culture" here. Me and my friends would go for a coffee at 6pm (or later 7pm, due to jobs) and often leave at 11pm or sometimes…

> coffee shops are really mainly places to hang out Isn't that so in the US? I mean, the guys from Friends practically lived in that Central Perk coffee house.

It is. But the issue is remote workers that go and take up a 4 person table with their laptop and a bunch of papers then sit there all day...meaning a group of 2-4 no longer has a place to hang out.

I both work out of and hangout in coffee shops in the US, when working remote I make sure to always use the long community table if there are already a few seats used, or sit at the bar, or a two person table if I must. And if it is super busy and people are looking for seats I’ll go elsewhere.

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

#113

Post by jclardy »

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?"

Being someone who works remotely exclusively...I wouldn’t survive without going to a coffee shop to work 2-3 times a week. Just need to get out of the house and be around people sometimes (during the day.)

People go to coffee shops to talk, to read, to write, to think. It doesn’t seem like much of a reach to think people would go there to do work. The common theme seems to be wanting to focus.

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

#114

Post by narrator »

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.

Meanwhile, Starbucks encourages people to sit around for as long as they'd like to and is pretty much taking over the world. What does this corporate giant know that every stingy corner coffee shop owner is ignorant of?

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

#115

Post by mnm1 »

EliRivers wrote: post #96
mnm1 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The $3 coffee most certainly does entitle you to sit there for an hour. That's the whole point of getting a coffee in a coffee shop. And if you told me to leave after 5 to 10 minutes, I'd tell you to call the cops and make me. With that kind of attitude, however, your coffee shop won't be in business long, so it shouldn't really be a problem that you treat people with so much disrespect.

if you told me to leave after 5 to 10 minutes, I'd tell you to call the cops and make me. Presumably the owner would actually have asked your mother or whichever other adult is with you, though.

Presumably you don't understand that the $3 is as much for a spot to sit as for the coffee, but considering your comment, it isn't surprising that you don't understand how coffee shops work.

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

#116

Post by jclardy »

rdiddly wrote: post #49
taneq wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, and so I don't really believe that's what other people are thinking. But it's how I feel, and it messes with my concentration.

I think it a little. Never really "got" the whole thing I guess. I also wonder why does a supposed "remote worker" (for money, I presume) want to eat (literally) into their profits by spending money constantly at a cafe? My home would have to be a heckhole indeed... Or I'd have to be stricken with a loneliness so gnawing that I had to get out. Otherwise I'm perfectly content to have total control over a pleasant priv…

I work remote, I enjoy working from my pleasant private environment about 90% of the time. But I get bored of it and want a change of pace, and I enjoy espresso drinks that I can’t duplicate at home.

$25 a week spent on breakfast and coffee plus a new environment isn’t really going to ding my budget, maybe that is different for other people depending on their field.

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

#117

Post by Jaruzel »

narrator wrote: post #114
toomanybeersies wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Meanwhile, Starbucks encourages people to sit around for as long as they'd like to and is pretty much taking over the world. What does this corporate giant know that every stingy corner coffee shop owner is ignorant of?

A good share of Starbucks locations worldwide actually run at a loss. The mega-busy ones elsewhere make enough profit to cover the loss making stores. It's simple economics of scale.

Obviously independent coffee shops can't do that, so if you want to sit in a coffee shop all day working on your laptop, try to pick a large chain, instead of an independent.

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

#118

Post by reycharles »

Leynos wrote: post #21
therealmarv wrote: post #14

No power plugs (I think most effective) & time limited Wifi. A cafe is not a coworking space although when beeing in USA or more specifically in SF I have the feeling people think it's the same.

A place near me limits WiFi to 45 minutes at peak times, which I think is best. AC outlets on the other hand are for more than laptops. If I'm going somewhere for a coffee, it's good to be able to charge my phone too.

> If I'm going somewhere for a coffee, it's good to be able to charge my phone too.

Here it's more common you leave the phone at the bar to be recharged if charging your phone is what you want.

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

#119

Post by [deleted] »

mrweasel wrote: post #60
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?"

People are different of cause, they have different types of jobs, and cafes are different as well. However; when I see someone with a laptop on a tiny little round cafe table, I assume that they just want to be seen, or if they're just setting up for an Instagram photo. Their 13" MacBook is often dwarfed by their huge coffee cup, how can anyone work in such crammed conditions? And the noise.... don't people need to t…

[deleted]

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

#120

Post by Jaruzel »

If I recall correctly, many Wi-Fi hotspot systems can employ a MAC address block list. So that after X time, the laptop gets disconnected, and cannot reconnect for Y time afterwards. Obviously this can be circumvented by savvy users, but for non-technical remote workers, it's a good way to 'nudge' them on their way.

I wonder why more places just don't employ this as a tactic?

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