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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?

#191

Post by rorykoehler »

slivym wrote: post #176
wjh_ wrote: post #137

There's a place I often visit in Shoreditch called Ziferblat[0], and I think that they have something of a solution to this (they have other places too). Essentially, you are charged for your time and everything else is free. Presently I think it's about 7p per minute for the first hour, and then 4p a minute afterwards - there's also a cap. While in there, coffee, snacks, etc, are all "free". Perhaps this sort of mod…

This doesn't seem like it's a solution to the problem, it's just a different type of venue with the opposite problem. If I go in and grab a coffee and a crumpet they're not going to be very happy.

Just have a 1 hour minimum fee.

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

#192

Post by sebringj »

You have to wonder how its sustainable though if you have people just sitting there taking up space, not paying. I work remotely and I see this and have been wondering for years. Just because something is a norm doesn't make it profitable or just makes sense for business owners. You are essentially loitering at some point and if there was a way to monitor time without it being awkward and also profitable, I'm all for that. This is the only venue where its been culturally acceptable to be a freeloader. Totally against the grain here I guess.

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

#193

Post by TeMPOraL »

jclardy wrote: post #112
JorgeGT wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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. A…

> 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.

Nah, the issue is, multiple groups of 2-4 people no longer have a place to hang out, meaning the shop earns less money.

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

#194

Post by TeMPOraL »

coldtea wrote: post #99
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'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?" This though can be turned around easily: that the one feeling that way is self-centered and believes unknown people in a cafe care about what he "broadcasts" when he uses his laptop. What makes he believe…

Yup. I find that people complaining about different habits of others are usually the one with problems.

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

#195

Post by [deleted] »

freeloop3 wrote: post #175
1337biz wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reality is nobody cares about you in the (semi-)public. Unless you of cause go really crazy. Determine your actions based on the imaginary judgement of completely random strangers is going to serverely limit the way you live your life.

> Reality is nobody cares about you in the (semi-)public. Unless you of cause go really crazy. A few people have been saying that. But, how can you possibly know? It sounds like a platitude one tells themselves in order to not feel self-conscious, rather than an actual discernable fact.

[deleted]

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

#196

Post by vorpalhex »

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 do it for high focus tasks. I like the noise level of cafe's and that interruptions are very rare. I can be extremely productive, and sometimes I'll do work at a cafe even if it isn't for my actual job. For instance I'll work on some fiction writing, or a coding project.

At least around here most people seem to be on laptops. Whether they're playing a game or doing actual work I don't know since I try to not peep at other screens, but nobody has given me any stare-downs or anything rude.

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

#197

Post by protonimitate »

robotmay wrote: post #173

This is such a bizarre stance. "Finish up what you’re doing and close the laptop, please" would have me leave a venue immediately and never return. In the UK the concept of people taking up space in coffee shops and not spending enough is not limited to people on laptops. You're just as likely to see an entire crowd of teenagers with one drink between them, or a group of mothers with pushchairs hanging about for hour…

My question is how many cafes really make money off of people who come in and sit for an hour or two and order more than one drink.

Don't most people just stop by, grab a cup, and then go on their way? I've never seen a cafe a-la 'friends' where people hangout and constantly buy things.

In my experience the only people who DO hang out at cafes and order multiple items are those doing work for extended periods of time.

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

#198

Post by bluedino »

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.…

In the 'old days', you had to either subscribe to the service (usually AT&T or something ran the wifi) or you got a printed code on your receipt that was valid for an hour or two.

Then a some point, most chains started offering free wifi. Which was useless because many of the places only have 2-6mbs which is useless with anyone else using it.

Starbucks at least went with 'Google wifi' and have ~ 100mbs service which is really nice. But they are empty for some reason, the local Barnes and Noble is packed with laptops and unusable wifi.

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

#199

Post by bluedino »

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?"

All the time.

My complaint would be people yapping on their cell phone for work. That's a big distraction, you blend in with a laptop, but nothing says "I'm important" yelling into your bluetooth for an hour.

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

#200

Post by paulcole »

robotmay wrote: post #173

This is such a bizarre stance. "Finish up what you’re doing and close the laptop, please" would have me leave a venue immediately and never return. In the UK the concept of people taking up space in coffee shops and not spending enough is not limited to people on laptops. You're just as likely to see an entire crowd of teenagers with one drink between them, or a group of mothers with pushchairs hanging about for hour…

> "Finish up what you’re doing and close the laptop, please" would have me leave a venue immediately and never return.

Isn’t this the ideal outcome though? Your actions show you’re not the audience the business owner wants.

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