Coffee shops like Starbucks or Timothys are were not meant to be a work space . What bugs me is that coffee-shops used to play an important role in the community. Its where you went to dish the dirt, catch up with the neighborhood. It was like a bar for socializing without the alcohol . Now coffee shops are being overrun with laptop/tablet people working remotely seeking a work space. These people occupy spaces fo r long periods shutting out regular coffee-drinkers and without contributing any conversation or even a hello to the community.
Any development that lures these people away from my Starbucks is OK in my book.
There are a handful of coffee shops that actively don't want to be used by laptop/tablet users, and one way they signal that is by not offering wifi. It's not quite as effective a deterrent as it used to be with the advent of cheapish mobile data plans that have tethering, but it can give you an indication of what the shop expects its usage to be. Fins Coffee in Santa Cruz, CA is an example of a shop without wifi.
Given how heavily Starbucks not only offers but advertises its free Wifi (as does McDonald's), my guess is that they do actually intend their stores to attract laptop/tablet users.
Funny you should mention Santa Cruz, as I've also noticed there's a variety of styles of coffee shop in the area.
There's Verve downtown, where low table-density in a big room with a high ceiling creates islands where patrons can isolate themselves from one another. I'm guessing this makes it a place where (mostly young?) people can be productive on their devices.
Then there's a place like Lulu's (right across the street!), that's more cramped and has a more traditional/low-light ambiance, where it's basically impossible to ignore the people around you (I hope I don't make it sound like that's a bad thing).
Yeah, I used to live there, and I think it might be my favorite coffee-shop town. Lots of places and variety, especially considering the modest population. My own favorite one is probably Mr. Toots in Capitola (2nd story, & has a small balcony with ocean view).
For folks who are away from home, or otherwise on the road with a laptop, Starbucks is invaluable. There's a guarantee of transactional access to wifi, even though the quality of the wifi varies by location, and the only risk is finding a seat. I dislike hogging the tables at coffee shops near my house to work, but do so occasionally to help myself think -- but when I'm away from home I find Starbucks a very useful place to go and I'm not always near a local library or other alternative.
Seems funny to blame it on kids when you clearly have a undersupply of coffee shops. Personally, I never feel guilty about using my laptop - if the cofee shop is somewhat full, I just walk five feet to the next one.
I actually miss the "bar" at Tim Horton's, where you could once find conversation without having to bring your own friends with you. You could always retire to the tables if you had a family or group, but the bar was like dropping into the local pub for general socializing (without the slow slide into stupidity). As a young, frequently-moved fellow in the military, it was a great way to find some community outside of the "mob".
