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'We don't want to be an office:' Café owners are pulling the plug on WiFi
When HotBlack Coffee opened in downtown Toronto a year ago, it took a risk few businesses would dare take in today's online-driven world: it turned off the WiFi.
"Every day people come in and ask for it," says Jimson Bienenstock, the café's co-owner.
Still, he hasn't wavered.
"In the short term, it hurt us," Mr. Bienenstock says. "It took us longer to become established, but once we reached critical mass, it has become a self-fulfilling virtuous circle."
While most cafés offer free WiFi, including large chains such as Starbucks, McDonald's and Tim Hortons, HotBlack is among a small but growing number of independent coffee shops choosing to ditch or limit Internet use. By not offering WiFi, they're hoping to create more of a community atmosphere where people talk to each other instead of silently typing on their computers.
If coffeeshops come to discourage people working, perhaps that activity can shift to libraries.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Tuesday May 02 2017, @02:19PM (2 children)
Ah... The wonderful people of the twenty-first century. I don't like what you are doing, therefore you should have no right to do it. This is why we are drowning in laws that micromanage every aspect of our lives. Left, right, center: Everybody is looking to authority to shut down anything they dislike.
Exactly. Which is why I have my city councilman and state/federal representatives on speed dial. So I can demand that everyone do exactly what I want all the time.
Not so familiar with the rhetorical flourish, are we? Or just so embedded in your faux "left" vs. "right" political narrative that everything has to have an ideological motive?
I dislike most coffee shops. Not least because of the entitled jerks who monopolize the space. As such, I vote with my feet and wallet and don't frequent them. That makes me a micromanaging moron "looking to authority to shut down anything I dislike?"
It's comments like yours which inspired me to introduce HR 1337, "The Internet Restrictions On Literal-Minded Morons Act of 2017" It should be coming to the floor soon.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Oakenshield on Tuesday May 02 2017, @03:15PM (1 child)
Huh? I believe that my point was that the overwhelming desire to control others and their behavior is irrespective of political affiliation.
No, it makes you a self-entitled asshole. It is clear from your original post that you believe that others' usage of coffee shops and cafes that do not coincide with your "preferred" ideal of the proper way to enjoy them is less important than yours. I rarely frequent Panera Bread anymore because I find it difficult to get a table due to the large numbers of "office space" clientele, but I never consider them "cheap fucks" or offer any desire to see them pushed outside to use WiFi. In fact, they are just as entitled to use the space as I am.
Appeal to authority to control other people's behavior is a common issue that cuts across all of the political spectrum. Nobody seems to be able to live and let live if they find behavior distasteful or annoying nor makes any attempts to be gracious or courteous. The result is that there are way too many self-entitled assholes that love to vote in politicians that work hard to prohibit any behavior that they find objectionable, regardless of whether or not there is anyone truly affected. Am I accusing you of writing letters to your Congressman to prohibit WiFi in restaurants? No, but I can see from your writing that you are an angry individual with a desire for control over others with which you disagree or find yourself inconvenienced.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Tuesday May 02 2017, @04:35PM
Appeal to authority to control other people's behavior is a common issue that cuts across all of the political spectrum. Nobody seems to be able to live and let live if they find behavior distasteful or annoying nor makes any attempts to be gracious or courteous. The result is that there are way too many self-entitled assholes that love to vote in politicians that work hard to prohibit any behavior that they find objectionable, regardless of whether or not there is anyone truly affected. Am I accusing you of writing letters to your Congressman to prohibit WiFi in restaurants? No, but I can see from your writing that you are an angry individual with a desire for control over others with which you disagree or find yourself inconvenienced.
Your wildly inaccurate assessment of me and my attitudes evoked a belly laugh. Thanks!
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr