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What you need is a Bring Your Own Computer Internet café. 10 years ago, I hanged out a lot in internet cafés, and loved it. There was definitely something cool
by epsylon 13y ago
What you need is a Bring Your Own Computer Internet café.
10 years ago, I hanged out a lot in internet cafés, and loved it. There was definitely something cool about it: hanging out with tech-savvy people, using beastly machines on powerful internet connections, exploring the exponentially exploding internet, playing games, ... It was a very social experience, and I befriended a few other regulars there.
I do miss the ambiance of these cafés, and I wish that laptops, better internet connections (the days of 56k are long gone) and ubiquitous free WiFi hadn't killed that kind of business.
There's potential for a revival of internet cafés, though. Good Wifi, preinstalled docks for common laptops, smartly arranged space (to avoid spilling coffee on your precious laptop because you accidentally pulled a cable !) and a different pricing model, you could attract easily the horde of Starbucks and McDonald's "laptop hobos"...
- tomhschmidt 13y agoYes! I totally agree! It doesn't even have to be intended as a coffee shop - just like a coworking space where I can show up, plug my laptop in to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, sit down at a comfy office chair and desk, and work for a few hours. Would gladly pay for that service.
- personlurking 13y agoI've played with the idea of doing this using shipping containers. Search out "shipping container cafes".
- ratsimihah 13y agoOne of the reasons why I never invested in an external monitor at home was that I spend most of my time working in coffee shops. Such a coworking space with external monitors and good coffee would be heaven.
- redblacktree 13y agoSearch for co-working spaces in your area. Most have an annual fee (I believe the one closest to my house charges $500 for the year) and are exactly what you described.
- tomhschmidt 13y agoReally? I live in the Bay Area and the ones that I've seen have pretty poor amenities. Even rather famous ones like Hacker Dojo look like just some cheap tables and chairs thrown together.
- redblacktree 13y agoI can't help you there. I'm in Indianapolis, and there are a number of nice spaces. One of them is a bit grungy, but it's part of its charm.