Tuesday, June 14, 2005
coffee and wifi
An interesting article in today's New York Times, Some Cafe Owners Pull the Plug on Lingering Wi-Fi Users . It seems that web surfing and coffee drinking are not natual combinations. Many people surf without any need to drink coffee continually.
Cafes are a rare example of a "third space" that people can go to work or socialize. I strongly believe we need to develop alternative third spaces, not just rely on cafes. I love my coffee in the morning, but I find it vile in the afternoon. I literally find the aroma of coffee noxious after smelling it too long, over an hour. And I hate the shrill sound of coffee grinders, and the banging of metal as baristas wack out the coffee grinds from the machine. Coffee-centric cafes are really not very pleasant places to spend long periods, which may be why Italians just down their coffee while standing, instead of nursing a boat-sized frothy sugar-ladened drink for an hour. French cafes aren't really about coffee, they are about sitting outside on the pavement, watching the world go by while enjoying drink or food. I can't see wifi in either a French or Italian cafe.
Someone needs to develop a lounge for doing work while mobile, that is more flexible and comfortable than the cubicles of the so-called "Internet cafe", and not so centered on dispensing drinks.
Cafes are a rare example of a "third space" that people can go to work or socialize. I strongly believe we need to develop alternative third spaces, not just rely on cafes. I love my coffee in the morning, but I find it vile in the afternoon. I literally find the aroma of coffee noxious after smelling it too long, over an hour. And I hate the shrill sound of coffee grinders, and the banging of metal as baristas wack out the coffee grinds from the machine. Coffee-centric cafes are really not very pleasant places to spend long periods, which may be why Italians just down their coffee while standing, instead of nursing a boat-sized frothy sugar-ladened drink for an hour. French cafes aren't really about coffee, they are about sitting outside on the pavement, watching the world go by while enjoying drink or food. I can't see wifi in either a French or Italian cafe.
Someone needs to develop a lounge for doing work while mobile, that is more flexible and comfortable than the cubicles of the so-called "Internet cafe", and not so centered on dispensing drinks.
Link to this article. posted by Michael Andrews @ 7:56 AM 
