6 ms·

Cafes provide two distinct products, usually bundled into one: seat rental and food/drink. How about charge separately for each? I get that it would be awkward

Cafes provide two distinct products, usually bundled into one: seat rental and food/drink. How about charge separately for each? I get that it would be awkward to try, but why not.

stby 1y ago
Newer Coworking places generally seem to have some Starbucks-vibes, but AFAIK they are not doing to well. Maybe the price of a coffee is exactly what people are willing to pay for a seat, a small table, and wifi for some hours.
- currency 1y ago
  Coworking spaces need to colocate with services. Starbucks, Fedex Kinkos, massage chairs....
- mathiaspoint 1y ago
  I haven't seen a coworking place that isn't insanely overpriced compared to a coffee shop so it's no surprise they're not doing well.
  - mhitza 1y ago
    In my experience price isn't the only issue. One of the (smaller) coworking spaces I can have access to locally, closes at 6pm while a coffee shop at around 9-10PM and it's also open on weekends. But then again, I find working in coffee shops too distracting, so work from home and randomly popping into a coworking space now and then.
    - mantra2 1y ago
      Little overpriced but I've found Loop Earplugs to help working in coffee shops, etc. Muffles out most of the sound but not everything, enough to focus but not fly off your seat if someone taps your shoulder.
      - john01dav 1y ago
        What's the purpose of doing this over working at home where this problem doesn't exist?
        bombcar 1y ago
        For many you really want a distinction between “work area” and “home” - one way is to have a separate office at home to do work in, but you can also leave the house and go somewhere. If you work on the kitchen table and that’s where you play, also, the mind and body have hard times disengaging from work.
        mantra2 1y ago
        I work at home 99% of the time but occasionally it's nice to get out of the house and see the world of the living.
  - victorbjorklund 1y ago
    Yeah, but isn't the question whether the co-working place is overpriced or if the coffee shop is underpriced or maybe both?
- Mistletoe 1y ago
  Imagine if a little critical thinking like this had been allowed to enter the minds of WeWork investors.
  - NuclearPM 1y ago
    Companies pay more than coffee prices for offices
- sersi 1y ago
  I tried wework. The seats were unbelievably uncomfortable. For the low-low price of $500 usd to get a hot seat, it's just much worse than coffeeshops.
wodenokoto 1y ago
Japanese Manga Cafes / Internet Cafes give you all you can drink coffee and tea for hourly pricing, and usually comes with a PC and a private booth. I'm not sure how much of a thing they still are though, but they were big in the 2000s and early 10s
- mvdwoord 1y ago
  This is what we had all over the world (...) when Internet Cafes were a thing. Perhaps they should come back?
  - johnisgood 1y ago
    Most developers could not really do their own thing on a PC/laptop that is not theirs. Are they supposed to set up their development environment each time?
    - mvdwoord 1y ago
      You could still bring your laptop? Swap out the HDMI if you want to use the monitor...
    - Yizahi 1y ago
      For work oriented cafe, owners can partner with Teamviewer, license seats from it and then advertise this as a fast remote service. Iirc teamviewer requires payment only for host machine, clients can be free. Though I imagine the market for such setup would be extremely small and unprofitable.
      - actionfromafar 1y ago
        Clearly StarBucks should rent out StarBucks branded developer machines in the cloud, which you can access from home or from StarBucks terminals.
        ericcumbee 1y ago
mrtksn 1y ago
Or have actual public places? The Cafe's are there to serve coffee, it's just courtesy as business model to let you hang around in the premises and when the business model starts to fail in some way they adjust it. After university, the most I miss is the actual places that are mine to use and are made for hanging around or working and not necessarily consuming anything.
- cmavvv 1y ago
  > The Cafe's are there to serve coffee, it's just courtesy as business model to let you hang around Traditionally it's the other way around, the drink is a by-product of a public house where people can gather. Could you imagine a bar where people are just supposed to drink and leave?
  - mrtksn 1y ago
    How does this work? Were these public houses literally owned by the public and someone noticed that they may sell something there? AFAIK it's more like people opening their premises to outsiders to hang around and sell them stuff.
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
    - rrrrrrrrrrrryan 1y ago
      Yes - to enter most houses you needed to be a member of the club, or know the owner, have an invitation, etc. Some houses were open to the public ("public houses," "pubs") where anyone could walk in and grab a drink and a bite, and usually even a bed for the night.
  - NuclearPM 1y ago
    > Could you imagine a bar where people are just supposed to drink and leave? Yes.
  - sandworm101 1y ago
    > can you imagine a bar where people are just supposed to drink and leave? That is what a "bar" was invented to do. In the old public house, patrons would remain seated and the alcohol was brought to them. A heavy drinker would drink until they couldnt walk, but would still occupy a chair. Then the "bar" was invented. Patrons now come to the alcohol and will generally depart before becoming legless. A single bartender can now dish out far more alcohol per hour than any table server. That didnt exist as a concept until a couple hundred years ago. Proper sushi "bars" follow the same pattern. You eat solo, often with curtains between individual patrons. You eat fast. Then you leave. You dont hang around for a chat.
kmfrk 1y ago
Last week's submission is a company created to do this, too: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44811602 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44811602. https://badgeapp.co https://badgeapp.co.

Cafes provide two distinct products, usually bundled into one: seat rental and food/drink. How about charge separately for each? I get that it would be awkward to try, but why not.

stby 1y ago

Newer Coworking places generally seem to have some Starbucks-vibes, but AFAIK they are not doing to well. Maybe the price of a coffee is exactly what people are willing to pay for a seat, a small table, and wifi for some hours.

currency 1y ago
Coworking spaces need to colocate with services. Starbucks, Fedex Kinkos, massage chairs....
mathiaspoint 1y ago
I haven't seen a coworking place that isn't insanely overpriced compared to a coffee shop so it's no surprise they're not doing well.
- mhitza 1y ago
  In my experience price isn't the only issue. One of the (smaller) coworking spaces I can have access to locally, closes at 6pm while a coffee shop at around 9-10PM and it's also open on weekends. But then again, I find working in coffee shops too distracting, so work from home and randomly popping into a coworking space now and then.
  - mantra2 1y ago
    Little overpriced but I've found Loop Earplugs to help working in coffee shops, etc. Muffles out most of the sound but not everything, enough to focus but not fly off your seat if someone taps your shoulder.
    - john01dav 1y ago
      What's the purpose of doing this over working at home where this problem doesn't exist?
      - bombcar 1y ago
        For many you really want a distinction between “work area” and “home” - one way is to have a separate office at home to do work in, but you can also leave the house and go somewhere. If you work on the kitchen table and that’s where you play, also, the mind and body have hard times disengaging from work.
      - mantra2 1y ago
        I work at home 99% of the time but occasionally it's nice to get out of the house and see the world of the living.
- victorbjorklund 1y ago
  Yeah, but isn't the question whether the co-working place is overpriced or if the coffee shop is underpriced or maybe both?
Mistletoe 1y ago
Imagine if a little critical thinking like this had been allowed to enter the minds of WeWork investors.
- NuclearPM 1y ago
  Companies pay more than coffee prices for offices
sersi 1y ago
I tried wework. The seats were unbelievably uncomfortable. For the low-low price of $500 usd to get a hot seat, it's just much worse than coffeeshops.

wodenokoto 1y ago

Japanese Manga Cafes / Internet Cafes give you all you can drink coffee and tea for hourly pricing, and usually comes with a PC and a private booth. I'm not sure how much of a thing they still are though, but they were big in the 2000s and early 10s

mvdwoord 1y ago
This is what we had all over the world (...) when Internet Cafes were a thing. Perhaps they should come back?
- johnisgood 1y ago
  Most developers could not really do their own thing on a PC/laptop that is not theirs. Are they supposed to set up their development environment each time?
  - mvdwoord 1y ago
    You could still bring your laptop? Swap out the HDMI if you want to use the monitor...
  - Yizahi 1y ago
    For work oriented cafe, owners can partner with Teamviewer, license seats from it and then advertise this as a fast remote service. Iirc teamviewer requires payment only for host machine, clients can be free. Though I imagine the market for such setup would be extremely small and unprofitable.
    - actionfromafar 1y ago
      Clearly StarBucks should rent out StarBucks branded developer machines in the cloud, which you can access from home or from StarBucks terminals.
      - ericcumbee 1y ago

mrtksn 1y ago

Or have actual public places? The Cafe's are there to serve coffee, it's just courtesy as business model to let you hang around in the premises and when the business model starts to fail in some way they adjust it. After university, the most I miss is the actual places that are mine to use and are made for hanging around or working and not necessarily consuming anything.

cmavvv 1y ago
> The Cafe's are there to serve coffee, it's just courtesy as business model to let you hang around Traditionally it's the other way around, the drink is a by-product of a public house where people can gather. Could you imagine a bar where people are just supposed to drink and leave?
- mrtksn 1y ago
  How does this work? Were these public houses literally owned by the public and someone noticed that they may sell something there? AFAIK it's more like people opening their premises to outsiders to hang around and sell them stuff.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  - rrrrrrrrrrrryan 1y ago
    Yes - to enter most houses you needed to be a member of the club, or know the owner, have an invitation, etc. Some houses were open to the public ("public houses," "pubs") where anyone could walk in and grab a drink and a bite, and usually even a bed for the night.
- NuclearPM 1y ago
  > Could you imagine a bar where people are just supposed to drink and leave? Yes.
- sandworm101 1y ago
  > can you imagine a bar where people are just supposed to drink and leave? That is what a "bar" was invented to do. In the old public house, patrons would remain seated and the alcohol was brought to them. A heavy drinker would drink until they couldnt walk, but would still occupy a chair. Then the "bar" was invented. Patrons now come to the alcohol and will generally depart before becoming legless. A single bartender can now dish out far more alcohol per hour than any table server. That didnt exist as a concept until a couple hundred years ago. Proper sushi "bars" follow the same pattern. You eat solo, often with curtains between individual patrons. You eat fast. Then you leave. You dont hang around for a chat.

kmfrk 1y ago

Last week's submission is a company created to do this, too: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44811602 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44811602. https://badgeapp.co https://badgeapp.co.