Live data from Hacker News

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

nytimes.com

81–90 of 315 posts

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

#81

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.

Why shouldn't it be if it fills some peoples need? Why should a cafe not offer that if it brings them customers?

Because the owner can't pay rent and wages if all customers sit around the whole day working on their laptops and buying two coffees and a sandwich.

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

#82

Why not just charge patrons per hour spent in the cafe? Is it really that bad of a business model?

In France we have Anticafe[1]. They charge 5€ per hour spent there in exchange for unlimited wifi, coffee and pastries.

As I understand it they're quite successful. They have opened multiple new cafes in Paris' central neighborhoods.

[1] https://www.anticafe.eu/

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

#83

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.

Why shouldn't it be if it fills some peoples need? Why should a cafe not offer that if it brings them customers?

Customers are people who spend money. Someone who bought one coffee, but is taking up a seat all day is not a customer.

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

#84
post #3

So is this about sales or about the vibe of having a coffee place where people hang out and chat? I'd be happy to pay some money to work for longer than one drink at a cafe, but I don't really want to drink 5 coffees to work for a day.

See if there's a makerspace around. The one I go to has free coffee, and as a bonus, I have access to an entire workshop worth of tools, good for almost any project I could imagine.

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

#85
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…

Strangely enough, knowing that so many people have doubts about coffeeshop nomads was very motivating when I did exactly that. I sometimes lacked the discipline to get work done from home, but when I sat down at a coffeeshop, I never opened social media because that would only prove you people right - so I worked all day.

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

#86
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm guessing most people using cafes as workplaces are going to baulk at paying for 4G? It can get really expensive if you're working more than a couple of hours a day.

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…

That's not really fair though - Three hasn't offered unlimited for years now, I also have friends who bought Unlimited few years ago and they will continue to have it until they switch plans, but that level of unlimited, where you can tether and where you can literally download 500gb+ a month and no one will care doesn't exist in the UK today. No mobile ISP offers such a thing as it stands right now.

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

#87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It could also happen the other way around: places that don't discourage people from "abusing" their hospitality might not survive in such a competitive line of business.

Open, unrestricted wifi comes to mind as an example.

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

#88

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.

Why shouldn't it be if it fills some peoples need? Why should a cafe not offer that if it brings them customers?

It depends on how many spaces the cafe has and how expensive rent is.

If the cafe has plenty of free space, then people working on laptops is extra customers and beneficial. If it has little space, then a person ordering a coffee every two hours is taking away space from more profitable customers who eat, drink and leave in 30 minutes.

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

#89
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.

What does your $3 coffee entitle you to do in a cafe?

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

#90
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.

There has to be business opportunity. If you those people are leeching free wifi and sitting spot then any attempt at charging them for it will make them go away. Customer that does not want to pay is not customer, so you cannot align anything.
Post reply on HN