Coffee Shop Laptop Zombies

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Madison Wisconsin is a college town that has its fair share of coffee shops, in a recent article on Madison.com the newspaper investigates just why there's so darn many people camping out in those coffee shops with their laptops -- sometimes for more than 8-hour stretches.

Since Starbucks long ago took over half the real estate in the U.S. (isn't there a Starbucks next door to everyone at this point?) we've all had the experience of walking into a Starbucks establishment and generally seeing half the tables occupied by people with laptops. Heck, I've even witnessed lines in Starbucks not to get coffee, but rather for people to stake claim to a table so they can camp out and study or use a laptop to peruse FaceBook or update their blog. Specifically, I was in a Boston Starbucks last weekend and witnessed this phenomenon of people with backpacks waiting in line to pounce on the next table that opened up. So why are people now using coffee shops so much as a place to do work? According to the article on Madison.com there's a few reasons for this:

1. Free Wireless is offered at many local coffee shops and places such as Panera Bread, a popular cafe in the U.S. (Starbucks does not offer free wi-fi though, you have to pay $4.95 for the privilege of using T-Mobile for 1-hour).
   
   
2. More and more people are now working as consultants or independently (i.e. successful bloggers) and don't want to splurge on an office, but do like to work in places with people around them, so a coffee shop with its restrooms, food and wireless fits that need.
   
   
3. You don't have to clanup after yourself and sometimes the chairs are even more comfortable than what you have in your home
   
   
4. Friendly customer service at the coffee shop (sometimes)
   
   
5. People that are extroverted claim they get more done with others around them, even if they don't talk to them.
   
   
6. Some people just really like coffee

Grad student working at a laptop in a coffee shop in Madison WI

According to one person interviewed in the article, his reason for spending 13 hours in a coffee shop named Electric Earth Cafe is:

&quot;I need a high-speed Internet connection which is critical in both the work I do as a graduate student and as a photographer. I won't go to a coffee shop that doesn't have it.&quot;

Problems caused with too little space?

In areas with large populations of students coffee shop tables often get hogged with customers using laptops that didn't pay a dime or maybe just $1.50 for a cup of coffee. And how about those tables next to a power outlet? They're the equivalent of first class seats on airplanes -- they should be charged extra for given the number of people clamoring to get one.

At a Panera Bread location in Madison the number of people using laptops for extended periods of time during the lunchtime hour became such a problem they had to limit people sitting at tables to 30 minutes, otherwise customers couldn't find a table to sit down at.

A coffee shop named Victrola Cofee &amp; Art in Seattle decided to turn off the free wi-fi they offered on Sundays because people would just come in, use their laptops, and not talk which went against the reason the owners ran the place -- to encourage conversation and being a place to socialize.

Some coffee shops encouraging people to stick around?

While some coffee shops are clamping down on the number of people that stick around for long hours, others are actually encouraging them. At a Starbucks location in Hollywood CA they actually installed a table with power strips in the middle and study lamps to cater to those that were camping out to do work.

At this Starbucks in Hollywood California, they actually installed desks with power strips to cater to people who work in the store

Some off the baristas that work in coffee shops claim that people that work there for long hours are their favorite customers because they give tips as &quot;a way for them to pay table rent.&quot; They'll also often buy food and multiple drinks if they stick around for more than a few hours, so it makes some sense for coffee shops to encourage people to stay longer. According to one barista interviewed in the article &quot;one customer who sits in the coffeehouse eight hours each day working. She knows him by name and says that he is often there before she starts her shift and after she's done. -- 'We definitely want to have people here. We don't kick anybody out.'&quot;

 

So anyone reading this from a coffee shop right now?

 

Read article source on Madison.com

 

I used to do that back in my 'Cartoonist/ Comic Artist' days, granted my old Toshiba wasn't as artsy as a MacBook Pro. I wasn't studying. But I'd go to the Cool Beans Cafe and hang out for hours with my co-writer drawing storyboard in a sketch book and writing scripts. Occasionally we'd go to Starbucks and pay for wifi. There is just something about coffee shops and wanting to show off by working on your notebook in public. Who knows, maybe we were always dreaming some producer at Nickelodien/MTV would of walked in, to look cool while doing some work and checked us out.

 

Not that I take my laptop to coffee shops, but you can always spend $1.50 on real coffee (not the fancy stuff people seem to think is coffee) and surf the net for a day, I guess.

 

As a former employee at a coffee shop near schools, it was the 'hotspot' for them students. I mean, $5 drinks and a hangout with AC in the summer, yay

It's quite fun working at one, most customers are there so often it's less of an employee/customer situation but more of a mutual relationship between two people with common interests(coffee/latte/etc.). I got to know so many customers, they come from all sorts of backgrounds, from teachers from the high school across the street, University students cramming, or the cute IBM technician who comes in every Thursday and Friday night for a cup of Brazilian brewed coffee

 

Do bagel shops count?

 

Don't students get wrecked in bars or chase the opposite *** anymore? Or has it all gone virtual??

 

not reading this from a coffee shop but..
sitting on the tank right now

Gotta love a laptop + wlan

 

That's cool, I've always thought it would be a somewhat interesting job to work at a coffee shop meeting people. I'm a confessed coffee shop junky, but not when I'm in New York, they're way to friggin crowded and usually somewhat dirty. Columbus Ohio is actually a good scene for coffee shops, I used to live there and still go back quite often.

Yes, you win the award for being the first to respond while reading from a food location. I'll let you know when I think what the award is

 

Lol, coffeeshop in Dutch are the cafes where they sell drugs (tolerated by government; what a shame).

Nice article! Especially nice when they have airco in the summer in thos 'coffe shops'

 

Well, the cafe I was in was in the suburbs, so it wasn't too busy, but come Exam/Prom time, students flood in batches! Though I've seen downtown locations of Starbucks, Timothy's, etc. and boy, were they crowded!

 

I'm not much of a coffee drinker (I do like it, I simply don't drink it often). When I go to a coffee shop it's usually not for the drinks - I sit there with my laptop and surf the net; the drink sits there untouched. I only buy it so I don't feel like I'm wasted table space.

I don't bring my power adapter with me so that means I'm there around 2.5 - 3 hours. Right now I rarely go anywhere with my laptop because it is so large and heavy (7.5 lbs). I imagine I will be going to a lot more coffee shops after I get my Fujitsu T4220. 12" screen and six hours of battery.

 

It is hard for me to do school work at a coffee place but I do like the free wireless. I just find a corner and chill out.
Tim

 

I do all my internet time at coffee shops and the library.

Never have paid for internet.

I do a lot of it just from my car.

I live in a small town of 15k people but theres at least 20 free wi fi spots

 

I must be the only one on this entire site that doesn't go to coffee shops. 0_o

 

I love Starbucks.

I use to spend like $30 a week on Starbucks.

I really wish Starbucks would have Free Wi-Fi!

 

A good idea would be a secure connection in which only customers can get the password for, and changing it every day, it's not that hard.

 

I'm in the midwest and a software developer. Sure, there are times when I HAVE to be in the office, but I find that my productivity is much GREATER while working at Panera's (coffee / bagel store) or Caribou.

I'd much rather work with some background noise instead of in an office with just me in it. Seeing other people hard at work has always made me more productive too.

Well, gotta get to the office... yuck.

 

No, you're not.

 

I'm not a huge coffee shop visitor, but it sure was nice to have a Panera close to us when our cable company screwed up our install and we were offline for four days. I work online, so I spent a lot of time soaking up free wi-fi. I'm very guilty of covertly scoping out everyone else's hardware .

 

WhyyesIamhowdidyouknow?IsitbecauseI'msowiredyouthinkI'vehadtoomuchcoffee?