Cafes are discouraging laptop use, says the WSJ:
At two of three Café Grumpy locations — one in Brooklyn and the other in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood — laptops are never welcome.
But is this a change in policy?
Cafes are discouraging laptop use, says the WSJ:
At two of three Café Grumpy locations — one in Brooklyn and the other in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood — laptops are never welcome.
But is this a change in policy?
I think the whole article is inaccurate. Barnes and Noble just made their wifi free- last weekend in my town. A bit over a year ago, one coffee shop tried to go from free wifi to a pay system, but I hear they went back to free wifi rather quickly; I haven’t been back because their coffee is lousy. Another coffee shop went out of business, but that was more to do with the owners moving to Oregon than the economy. Meanwhile yet another coffee shop has opened nearer to me, and they seem quite welcoming.
Of course, I actually buy coffee there too, and I come in during their down time (this place is oriented around live music events).
So, I think there is either no clear trend emerging, or the trend emerging is actually the opposite to what the article suggests. Free wifi is a fixed cost, requiring only a small increase in sales in order to justify providing the service.