Some Cafe Owners Pull the Plug on Lingering Wi-Fi Users

[Archived in Entry]

[Learning Community Group's Research Network :: Main Page] Savage found that an office cafe discouraged conversation and was filled with people who came alone and were focused on their work. Social cafes have customers who arrive in groups. "If you come into a place like that and it's a particularly busy time, you get dirty looks if you open a laptop and start zoning out," Mr.

Some slightly related from Technorati and Google.

[Nancy's Blog] Cafes Pulling the Plug on Wifi Users: I wasn't crazy about Sean's project because I go to cafes to read or write (or grade papers), or to meet friends, not to interact with random strangers, which Sean's project was designed to facilitate. But it is true that, if you go to a cafe where everyone's working, it's hard to have a conversation. Not only are you interrupting them, but they're all listening in on your conversation -- can't avoid it.

[Engadget.com] Shutting off the free WiFi (on weekends, that is) - Engadget - www ...: The folks that suggest that the cafe owners tell leeches to leave or what have you: you'll note that in the article, they owner says that baristas and staff try this and get guff. The cafe wants to have a culture of lingering, and they don't want to have all kinds of policies they post and enforce. So the easier solution is to turn off Wi-Fi on the weekends: it seems like it might give them the culture they want without enforcement.

[Tonx.org] tonx . org » coffee, wi-fi and the decline of western civilization.: Every staff meeting we had, the topic of wi-fi became the most heated. The cafe had become quieter, the tip jar was getting lighter and a small minority of difficult and demanding users were making things unpleasant for the baristas. At the same time, a great number of our favorite regulars were good citizens and managed to use the wifi at length while still being friendly, sharing tables, buying stuff, flirting with our staff, etc..

[Barkingowl.com] gravyland » wireless: I’ve just created a new blog/website called free wifi freo to provide news ... Jack and I set up the free WiFi connection on the cafe strip some weeks ago, ...

[Scott.mcgerik.com] Scott McGerik’s Weblog » Thursday Roundup: Kat and I traveled to San Diego, CA this weekend. We flew out on Sun Country from the Humphrey Terminal in Minneapolis to the Lindberg

[Wifire.ca] WiFi Net News | WiFire Communications: Strongin said that the five-year-old cafe added free Wi-Fi when it seemed their customers ... And cellular data will make lingering everywhere a problem. ...

Reflected tags on Technorati: Blog, Wi-Fi, Wireless Networking News

Posted at June 13, 2005 12:51 PM