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Have laptop, will head to neighborhood cafe, right? Well, that might be more difficult at some—the Wall Street Journal looks at the growing trend of some NYC coffee shops telling laptop users they're not wanted: "In some places, customers just get cold looks, but in a growing number of small coffee shops, firm restrictions on laptop use have been imposed and electric outlets have been locked. The laptop backlash may predate the recession, but the recession clearly has accelerated it."
It's a double-edged sword: Laptop users nursing a single cup of brew over hours make the shop look busy, but then they may also be taking away table space from those willing to buy more. Some customers think no-laptop policies are fine: One Cafe Grumpy (Chelsea location) told the WSJ, "This is too small of a space to have laptop users here. People come here for their coffee, not to use the internet."
The WSJ also cites this review of Park Slope's Cocoa Bar on Yelp, which complains about being thrown out of the cafe because it doesn't allow laptop use after 8 p.m. on weekends (even when the cafe is near empty). Cocoa Bar's owner Masoud Soltani said the reviewer is no longer welcome at all!
Last year, an Upper East Side coffee shop made the news for charging laptop owners $12/day (for $3/hour) of electricity use. Don't worry: Starbucks will still allow laptop users in, though the coffee chain charges for WiFi. You may have better luck at Barnes & Noble locations, which have free Wi-Fi AND Starbucks cafes inside.
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"It's a double-edged sword: Laptop users nursing a single cup of brew over hours make the shop look busy, but then they may also be taking away table space from those willing to buy more."
To me, that's a single-edged sword. I tend to avoid places that are busy, so a bunch of laptop users nursing coffees are going to make me not want to even bother to if there might be empty table space somewhere inside.
I agree. Nothing worse than going in for some coffee and every piece of conceivable furniture is occupied by a laptop schlepping android. Just force them into a small corner. Make them part of the decor, not the total experience.
At one point I was one of those androids. Then I woke up.
I used to buy the cold packaged frappuccinos instead of the barista made ones. Pathetic, I know.
Coming soon: no books, no talking, and drink coffee faster!
In case it isn't obvious, city libraries offer free wifi and don't expect you to buy anything.
In fact there's no drinking of any beverage, especially coffee in the library.
cool, i'll take the seat next to the stinky hobo looking at porn
I used to use Starbucks to study heavily and would usually buy on average 3 cups of coffee per several-hour visit. Liked the psychological and actual caffeine boost. And since coffee is acidic and makes me hungry, I would usually buy a snack too. I'm not sure the "nurse the single cup" theory applies to everyone.
How people can study and concentrate in Starbucks or any coffee shop is beyond me. Besides the wifi connections at these places are usually slow.
kinda sucks for us caffeine fiends that inhale coffee like it's their job AND work on a laptop, don't it?
or people that sit around with friends without buying much.
this just seems like a lazy way to look like you're attempting to maybe do something.
Cocoa Bar no longer allows laptops after 8pm? It used to be packed in the evening and more than half of the people had laptops or were having meetings or study groups there. Whenever I had meetings there, we almost always ordered food in addition to our drinks. Bad move, Cocoa Bar...
So the paying customers bother them but the homeless people who come in to fill up their old coffee cups with free milk and use the bathroom for hours at a time don't bother them. Hmmm
I don't buy coffee at shops all too often, but I assume it to be around $2 a pop.
My Cablevision high speed internet bill is around $50/month.
If a person went to a shop every weekday to use it's internet and bought merely one cup of coffee, they would pretty much be paying the equivalent of their own high speed internet service at home a month - something that would have a fatter bandwidth, higher privacy, and from the comfort of their own home, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Yes, but no coffee. You forgot to factor in the cost of 30+ cups of over-roasted coffee.
There are so few coffee shops in NYC (especially Manhattan) where you can go and work to begin with, the owners have the ability to set the terms as they wish. Starbucks are everywhere, of course, but they charge for Internet, which is a big drawback.
If they're smart they'd find a way to market their wares to a laptop crowd - offering refill deals and pastry discounts with second cups, etc.
Whaaaa Whaaaa Whaaaaaaa! Jeez folks, get a grip -- entire books were written, buildings designed, political movements planned long before anyone ever heard of Starbucks or WiFi. Now get a cup of "kawfee" and get back to your office/library/studio/notepad.
Public laptop users and coffee shops are a perfect combination. It takes the people I don't want to see and puts them in a place I'll never go.
Everyone wins.
Most of the laptop users are only profiling anyway. Ever notice how almost all of them look up when someone walks it to make sure they're being noticed?
I can't see how coffee shops make money in the first place (except the ones that charge high dollars or have brisk in-and-out traffic) let alone do so with a bunch of chooches hanging around all day.
They do! They always look up to see who's invading their little world. Creepshow.
"People come here for their coffee, not to use the internet."
Ummm....apparently they are coming for both. Otherwise you wouldn't be so grumpy. At the cafe.
Why not charge a cover?
Sometimes I do feel like taking my laptop someplace other than my apartment to do some work or whatever. I go to a bar, though, not a coffee shop. Conveniently they open at noon.
I think that in some cases this is more about atmosphere than economics. Nothing less cozy and welcoming then a room full of blue-faced zombies.
Starbucks locations now offer AT&T WiFi. So if your an AT&T wireless customer you get free WiFi. You go Starbucks. What a laptop, iPhone and Smartphone friendly place.
This story is several years old on the West Coast. It's only been discovered this week because New Yorkers didn't have any decent cafes to go to until the last couple of years.