Mooch the WiFi
My son suggested to me that I should pack up the laptop and get out of the house to work at a local coffee shop for a change of pace. I've tried but could never get comfortable for seven good reasons:
(1) I got plenty of WiFi here at the house as I can move about the house freely or in the backyard with my dogs.
(2) I tend to spread out with my gear.
(3) There's only so much caffeine with shots of vanilla, leave room for creme Ventis I can handle at $3 or $4 bucks a pop.
(4) I get easily distracted being sociable.
(5) The guy over at the next table is a Bud Light Mr. Really Loud Cell Phone Talker Guy
(6) What do I do with my stuff and gear if I have to go potty? (I might as well be home)
(7) I can't sit on those hard chairs seeing multiple violations of man laws around me i.e. seeing a man walking in carrying a dog smaller than a football.
Now I have never understood the business model of a Starbucks or Caribou Coffee to allow single customers to dominate a table for hours. Even at the downtown library, the computers are dominated by homeless guys killing time. A lunch buddy told me they play Yahoo! Pool against one another !!!
What about the owner's prospective?
Wireless Internet cafes are the most cost-effective office space ever, but you know you're mooching. A cup of coffee is good for thirty minutes at a table, but what if you're going to be there all day, maybe every day?
What's the protocol at Wi-Fi cafes?
UPDATED: Other Views about WiFi
Coffeeshop Turns off Wi-Fi on Weekends
Would you like some coffee with that wifi?
coffee, wi-fi and the decline of western civilization
Free WiFi spawns cafe backlash
2 comments:
Hi, Kerry. I found your blog through a Google news/blog alert I subscribe to for the term "Caribou Coffee". I find the best blogs that way! LOL Your observations regarding wi-fi and its effect on coffee shops is interesting. I work at a Caribou and am anxious to see how their pay-as-you-go model with wandering wi-fi goes. They nudge customers with a reminder screen about 45 minutes into their free hour's service, reminding them to make a $1.50 purchase to obtain another hour's wi-fi.
Thanks for stopping by! $1.50 per hour IS a great rental price when you consider the retail space cost per square foot! Surely for tips and food & beverage sales, you'll want to turn the tables quick, just like a food restaurant right?
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