The Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece about how some coffee shops are struggling with all the folks who just want to sit in the coffee shops and use the free wifi.
I understand that coffee shops need to make money and so they need to sell coffee. At the same time, there is obviously a desire for folks to be able to sit somewhere other then their homes, use the Web, meet their friends, and collaborate with their community. Why do the two goals have to be mutually exclusive?
How can we make this work? Is there a technological way to credit people with a certain amount of time for Web access based on the number of coffees they buy? Does this show the need for more co-working facilities need to proliferate there way more throughout America?
What are your thoughts?
#1 by brbreslin on August 6th, 2009
Justin, maybe we'll see a shift to hourly credits on the receipts that tie into wifi. i.e. you buy something u get a free hour. that seems fair to me.
coworking facilities are tough to setup. but definitely a needed resource.
#2 by Justin Thorp on August 6th, 2009
Yeah, i'd be fine with that. I try to buy one couple dollar item every hour that I'm there.
#3 by Liz Lawley on August 6th, 2009
There are lots of places that put a 1 or 2 hour wifi access code on your receipt when you buy something. Seems like a reasonable approach.
#4 by Jonathan on August 7th, 2009
Coffee shop dwellers tend to be more idealistic people, and I think we need to apply the idealism to our personal lives. Buying at least one drink per hour should be a minimum (we should be thankful they don't have waitresses hitting us up every five minutes like salesmen). Also, let's stop hogging big tables. I was trying to sit with a friend at Peregrine the other day, and so many alone-sitters were spread out that we could not find a place to sit and talk. If coffee shops are really about community, the surfers can share a table.
#5 by Jonathan on August 8th, 2009
Coffee shop dwellers tend to be more idealistic people, and I think we need to apply the idealism to our personal lives. Buying at least one drink per hour should be a minimum (we should be thankful they don't have waitresses hitting us up every five minutes like salesmen). Also, let's stop hogging big tables. I was trying to sit with a friend at Peregrine the other day, and so many alone-sitters were spread out that we could not find a place to sit and talk. If coffee shops are really about community, the surfers can share a table.