Clearly, people have strong opinions on the subject. I think every coffee shop, third place, etc. has the right to shape their culture / atmosphere how they’d like. If customers don’t approve, they can move along. However, while I believe that nothing can replace face to face, the same can also be said of online conversation. Many online conversations move offline and vice versa. Regardless, it’s not cool for customers to simply use a table for their coats etc.

Also, coffee shops have become places where employed, unemployed, and underemployed coexist. Some of WiFi’s recent excessive may be in part because of the recession, as coffee shops have become places to job hunt etc.

We have breakfast every Saturday morning at our neighborhood Starbucks and lately we’ve been noticing a group of four or five folks who come in, commandeer three, or more, tables (they use one just for their coats), set up their laptops and all sorts of paperwork, and use the place as a workspace.

They aren’t even talking to each other. They’re just working away.

Several times we’ve had to go get our breakfast elsewhere because there was nowhere to sit, and I imagine this happens to a lot of people. Starbucks is losing business. I realize their policy is to let people just stay and work. But they pay a price (and so do we!)

In Europe they let you sit in cafés as long as you want but I haven’t seen this phenomenon of people using the place as an office.