241–250 of 315 posts
If its just revenue, then I think the alternative is to charge for wifi, for time-in-seat. e.g. here is your table. its yours for $8/hour. House coffee free. Anything else, go to the front.
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You have to find the space that's compatible with your needs. Don't blame the no-laptop space for being what it is, any more than the laptop-friendly one. Perhaps its not just about spending money. A coffee shop is (by some people's ideas) a place for folks to socialize. Those other 'offenders' are socializing, so are compatible with those spaces. Sitting in silence at a machine makes for a boring space, which drives…
I don't want to come across as grumpy - this is an honest question. What is so valuable in the guests' "socializing" with each other? If I come to a cafe with my date or friends, I'll feel more comfortable sitting among people with laptops rather than among noisy teenagers mentioned in the gp comment.
Its the same value as socializing at any other venue. Or taking it back further, whats the value in socializing at all? Maybe there isn't any value for you. I personally prioritize meeting new people and forming local connections, over virtual long-distance connections. A cafe is a good place to do that, if people are open to the idea. AFAICT people glued to their laptops, aren't.
> I'll feel more comfortable sitting among people with laptops rather than among noisy teenagers mentioned in the gp comment.
Those aren't the only two options.
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Cafes are places where people go to hang out with their friends, sometimes talking for hours, even though they only bought one or two cups of coffee. A couple of years ago, I reconnected with a childhood friend, after about 10 years of living far apart and only having very sporadic contact. We spent 6 hours talking about everything and nothing, after we finished our burgers. I would have been extremely annoyed if the…
Who's annoyance takes priority, you hogging a table for 6 hours annoying the owner, or you being annoyed when the owner kicked you out (or asked you to buy something) after a couple of hours?
But, the customer is always right. If it's not clearly signed that seating is time-limited, I will assume it is not.
I have been at (rather popular, busy) restaurants where a waiter will politely inform you that they have another reservation on our table 30 minutes later, giving us time to finish up without feeling rushed. Perhaps it's just a polite way to get rid of lingering customers, but we certainly didn't feel as if we were thrown out.
In a lot of cases, they'll even inform you beforehand that a reservation is for such and such time, usually 2 or 3 hours. That's perfectly fine and upfront, I certainly don't mind that.
I don't go out to just eat and get the hell out. Conversation is absolutely a part of going out to eat, and people don't appreciate feeling rushed.
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…
From my experience on Samos, this might be attributed to the current economic situation. At bars it's not uncommon to see a person drink a pint over 1-2 hours. Most of the people that I observed did more smoking then drinking at bars and coffee shops because cigarettes (especially hand rolled ones) are a lot cheaper then drinks.
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You are not trying hard enough. I was at Trinity College Library, Dublin a few months back. There are few spaces that are more peaceful and inspiring to work in than that one. You have to understand that cafés like churches or pubs or the town square have traditionally been designed as the "The Third Space" in people's lives behind home and work. It were community building happen. It's designed for that, not for work…
free wifi to freeloaders who aren't students though?
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Similar dynamic at the boxing gym I go to. The owner is a real boxing guy, but he knows the suburban moms and cardio/aerobics classes pay the bills. He's managed to find a good balance, training a few competitive fighters and putting on a few fights a year, but he could be making so much more money doing the whole volume aerobic/kickboxing model. We joke about the Title franchise gyms that have sparring rings for dis…
The true enthusiasts rarely pay the bills. For one, people really dedicated to a certain hobby typically don't have the money that the casual folks do. For another, they know the cost/value of the service. People building their own gaming rigs aren't paying local computer stores' markup. Ski bums have cheap season passes, get way more than their money's worth, and pack a lunch rather than pay $20 for a cheeseburger;…
The number of people who just want kickboxing-cardio is much greater than the number of serious fighters. The number of casual skiers is much greater than the number of ski bums.
Mathematically, although a business owner might love the serious hobbyists, usually, there just aren't enough of them to pay the bills.
That's why really serious pro-level coaching and training is so expensive: they can't spread their costs among enough customers to make it cheap for everyone.
If its just revenue, then I think the alternative is to charge for wifi, for time-in-seat. e.g. here is your table. its yours for $8/hour. House coffee free. Anything else, go to the front.
There's a place like this in SF: http://www.workshopcafe.com/ . Their location in the Financial District (I imagine the rent is high) is only $2/hr. So, it doesn't have to be much.
I work in cafes a lot and have my own code of conduct: - Don't work in a place that's really busy. If it becomes busy, I'll wrap up and move somewhere else. - Buy something at least every 2 hours. If I've had too many coffees, then decaf at least, or a pastry. Spend around $5 each time. - Tip! (Where appropriate). I like to add $1 for each purchase. - Get to know the employees. Learn their names and greet them.
Once you've worked from a few coffeeshops you can recognize the places that welcome remote workers - they go out of their way to provide lots of outlets and lots of 1/2 person tables. If a place has bright lighting, loud music, very few outlets - it's polite to find somewhere else.
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We can discuss what they are doing and also vote with our money. I'd hate to be kicked out of a shop because I'm reading a book. Or not talking. As you said: maybe it's their right to require socializing, but that doesn't make it a good idea.
Well, except that laptops are a plague upon the industry. Its not in the same league as reading a book.
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Yes, I get what you're saying, maybe I just know a lot of tight-fisted people? I have one colleague who won't answer an email or whatsapp unless she's on free wi-fi somewhere. This is an extreme example but I know others who are not much worse.
Tbh that sounds like an excuse to not be bothered by work 24/7