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Many coffee shops are losing money because customers spend too long online, so they are covering sockets, banning laptops and charging for internet access.
I really don't think that sitting in a coffee shop using their WiFi all day is no way to run a business. Come on, it's a coffee shop!
[edited by: engine at 12:42 pm (utc) on Aug. 14, 2009]
Free desk, free utilities, free computer hookup, free restrooms in MANHATTAN.
What is that woman thinking? What are these shops thinking?
" Whine, whine, whine, I want it for FREE"
So why is anyone surprised that some FREE WiFi users abuse the deal?
It wouldn't be beyond the wit of man to devise a system that gave you a code for a fixed time on-line with your receipt.
A decent one will cost £300-£500. Make itself back in a month.
I have no problem pulling into a parking lot in front of a coffee shop, getting out my laptop and doing what I need then drive away once completed, without even going inside. I have yet to feel guilt over this practice, I am never there longer than 45 minutes and I am not taking up a seat that a paying customer may want.
There are routers that have a built in ticketing system in place. They will redirect user's browsers to a login page that lives on the router. Entering a user name and password will allow the person access for X amount of time.
You can get one with a printer for tickets around $600-$700. Not that hard to crack down on. Although I see the dilemma about competing with chains. But hasn't that always been a challenge of the small guy vs the big guy?
Perhaps a neighborhood in Brooklyn will have coffee shops that are cool.
to some people you sell the steak ..to others you sell the sizzle ..to others you convince them that drinking vastly over priced crap coffee in a precisely manufactured / designed surround is "cool"
you sell little bits of "armour" and "rayment" to allow people to construct the self image they would like to have ..that cool people drink coffee in coffee shops ..and be "discovered" or "get dates" or whatever
dont knock the selling of it ..( "coolness" )..:)
just beware of maya ..
selling maya is however an old profession ..( amongst the oldest of the professions ).just ask any shaman , priest or ad executive ..
practically ..using any wi fi spot ..public or otherwise ..is really dumb ..unless you are researching for your presentation at blackhat :)
setting one up can be lucrative ..just until the person who bought danish and latte's uploads the kpron ..then you are liable ..as the owner of the "spot" ..
running or using free or even paid for wi fi is fraught with perils and posers ..
I saw Perez Hilton on Cribs the other day. He has a 2 bedroom apartment. One room is his closet.
Didn't the Beat Generation hang out in coffee shops
You rang?
Maynard G Krebs may have hung out in 50's espresso shops but I'm quite sure he never did any work <<<?!?>>> in one.
