Coffee shops are taking Wi-Fi off the menu

[Liberal_in_LA]

Coffee shops are taking Wi-Fi off the menu



Coffee connoisseurs hooked on this roaster's beans won't find a working signal — or even a power outlet. The uninitiated often try to plug into a fake one that owner Jeremy Tooker spray painted on the wall as a gag.

"There are lots of marks on the drywall," Tooker said, laughing.

About 30 miles south in Palo Alto, the heart of Silicon Valley's technology industry, the Coupa Cafe offers some of the fastest Internet service in town. But even this popular hangout for entrepreneurs and venture capitalists bans Wi-Fi on weekends to make room for customers sans laptops.

"We had big parties or family groups who wanted to eat but had no room," said Jean Paul Coupal, who runs the cafe with his mother, Nancy. "They were getting upset about it. They felt the whole place was being taken over by techies."

Coffee shops were the retail pioneers of Wi-Fi, flipping the switch to lure customers. But now some owners are pulling the plug. They're finding that Wi-Fi freeloaders who camp out all day nursing a single cup of coffee are a drain on the bottom line. Others want to preserve a friendly vibe and keep their establishments from turning into "Matrix"-like zombie shacks where people type and don't talk.

-------------------------

Coffeehouses have always attracted bookish deadbeats who stayed too long and bought too little. But suddenly these shops were teeming with electricity- and table-hogging laptops, leaving trails of tangled power cords and hard feelings. Too many customers spread out at big tables for long stretches over a lukewarm mug, forcing cafes to turn away business. One New York cafe even had a customer who installed himself and his desktop computer at one of its tables each day.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cafe-wifi-20100808,0,2492467.story

[Make7]

1. But how will I get my USRDA of ones and zeros? ( n/t )

[Catshrink]

2. Problem apparently is that some people buy-nary a thing.

:applause:

[uncommon]

29. DUzy

They really should bring those back. This is ace lol.

[Catshrink]

34. Thank you.... thank you very much.

:blush:

[marmar]

3. I don't blame them.....I don't know how many times I've walked into a coffee house....

Only to find a solo customer taking up a four-person table with a laptop and their feet up in the other chair.

[KittyWampus]

7. Maybe install bars on the tables and limit laptops to those? Make tables eating guests only?

Coffee houses could put bars or counters on the walls with stools for laptop users.

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. It's a hoot watching a table-hogger get prepared...moving the table, putting coat on one chair

plugging in the laptop.

[LostinVA]

4. HUGE problem at the Starbucks in Charlottesville

All the UVA kids go to the two close to Grounds and the B & N and stay there all frigging day on their laptops. Almost impossible to find a place to sit and drink something, share a pastry, and decide what book to get.

[JVS]

5. That's ok. My local real bar got wifi, and I don't have to listen to them bitch about me not buying

[KittyWampus]

6. When I was a teen- we'd take up tables for hours eating one

order of french fries....

[Subdivisions]

9. I'm torn. I work online. So, I can actually go anywhere to work as long as there is

a wi-fi connection. So, I have been known to visit Starbucks or Barnes & Noble to check my email and respond to any work that might be waiting for me there. While I am there, I will always drink a coffee or two or purchase a book. I always try to give more than I take. I don't camp out. I appreiciate the added value immensely. So, I would hate to see this practice come to an end. However, I can also see where the person who pay the bills is coming from too when people just camp at their locations sucking electricty and bandwidth all day without a corressponding benefit for the owner of the business.

[Curmudgeoness]

12. "I always try to give less than I take." LOL. I hope you just said that wrong. nt

[Subdivisions]

13. I did. Damn. And I'm not even drinking. Fixed. Thanks. n/t

[tammywammy]

18. I managed a coffee shop in Arlington many years ago

It eventually went out of business (after I left), but one of the problems we had were the people that would buy one drip coffee and sit all day. If that's not you, and from your post it's most definitely not, then I wouldn't worry. :)

[TBF]

24. I could see them bringing it back and charging for it -

it's the capitalist way....

[cbdo2007]

33. I'm the same way and won't stay if it gets crowded. If it is....

it's usually too distracting for me to work anyways.

Our local library system here in KC, MO is great because they all have free wi-fi and usually plenty of empty tables, so if I do get "crowded out" of the coffee shop (where 90% of the time it is empty) I can always go up to the library and kill a few hours.

[Davis_X_Machina]

10. For unemployed IT types...

...that's 'the office', and they're job-hunting from there. Home internet access -- non-dial-up -- is one of the things that gets economized.

[Curmudgeoness]

11. No surprise here. The only surprise is that it took this long.

There are more one cup/four hour types around here than any business can support. I can't believe that they never seemed to feel guilty, or understand that this place was there to make money---at least enough to pay for the electricity.

[SoCalDem]

16. Years ago, we had a popular cafe who just had a sign

Kaffeeklatsches .....9:00-11:00 AM
.........................................2:00- 4:00 PM
.........................................8:00-10:00 PM

Of course back then it was people who nursed a cup of coffee with free refills while reading the paper or magazines:)

[Nay]

14. Not surprised at all. There are an extreme number of selfish assholes

out there, and it's no surprise they show up with their laptops and take up space, acting like they own everything.

[glitch]

15. Some cafes have secured wifi, free logins with purchase that are good for 1-2 hours.

Seems the most reasonable option.

[LostinVA]

20. great idea

[knitter4democracy]

17. My old knitting group left a coffeeshop over it.

We'd often need the same space for our larger group and then weren't able to find a table. Worse, then they want everything silent for their work on the computer like they're at the library, and after we got yelled at by one lady for being too loud, we found another coffeeshop that accommodated us better.

[tammywammy]

19. I can't believe they let you leave

Or that they allowed customers demand silence. That's just silly, and poor management/ownership. When I ran a coffee shop, I would have much preferred a group of knitters (that probably spent a good amount), you'd add a lively atmosphere I'd suspect. :)

[knitter4democracy]

22. Well, we are a loud group.

We always spend money, though, making sure to support our local businesses. The coffeeshop where everyone meets weekly now makes good business off of us. There's anywhere between 4 and 20, and everyone gets something (often a full lunch) and tips well. We know we're not the easiest customers, noise-wise, so we tip well, clean up after ourselves, and spread the word about any business that lets us stay there for awhile.

The old coffeeshop does good enough business, I'm sure we weren't missed, but we sure don't miss having to fight for somewhere to sit or put up with people angry that we're talking, let alone laughing hysterically and hooting at each other's silly stories. :)

[athenasatanjesus]

21. These Coffee shop owners never heard of a time limit?

It would be a nice middle ground.

[WolverineDG]

23. No kidding

Either drop the free wi-fi all together, or put a time limit on it----1 coffee= 2 hours.

dg

[cilla4progress]

25. Why not just a simple policy

that you are free to park with your laptop, as long as no one is waiting for a table? Too hard to monitor? Operate on trust?

[Prometheus Bound]

26. I always thought that was a poor business model.

And it's not just the laptop folks. I know one former Starbucks barrista who said he had people park themselves there all day every day monompolising a table to conduct business on their mobile phones.

[Book Lover]

27. Yet another reason to support libraries (nm)

[Blue Owl]

28. Tea Parties are putting DiFi back on the menu

for her insane "reefer madness" marijuana policies.

[elleng]

30. Not Starbucks (or McDonald's.) Free WiFi and plug ins.

'Some owners' can and will make their own decisions, obviously.

[LWolf]

31. When I was in high school, there were no laptops, no pcs, no

internet, cell phones, etc..

But we used to hang out until curfew (or all night long, for those of us without curfews) in the biggest corner booth at Sambos, with as many of us stuffed in as possible, because we could get a cup of coffee with unlimited refills for ten cents. A dime a piece, plus some spare change from each for a tip, and we had a spot out in the real world, away from parental oversight, to hang out. If we were flush, we might order pie, or large orders of french fries to share, too. Even then, we preferred junk food.

Since we didn't show up until after the dinner crowd, we weren't taking up space that other customers wanted. There were more empty tables and booths than not.

In the modern world, I hang out at home. I still don't have a laptop or other portable electronics that need connections. If I did, though, I'd certainly be hanging out in the coffee shops those times that it's not practical to run home, but you still want to be able to access information.

My local cable company is expanding wi-fi to local parks. No coffee purchases necessary. I envision a time when the park will be full of people with laptops, and enterprising coffee vendors will be serving from carts.

:donut:

[derby378]

32. Lose WiFi and you lose me

Every business I frequent that has WiFi gets my business. Pizza joints, sandwich shops, even the occasional Dairy Queen - I'm happy to purchase something from them as long as they let me visit DU in peace.