I wonder if you could adjust the coffee shop model a bit to work better for these kinds of people. Here's a wacky idea about how it could work. A few assumpti

I wonder if you could adjust the coffee shop model a bit to work better for these kinds of people. Here's a wacky idea about how it could work. A few assumptions: - People who walk in, pay $n for a cup of coffee, sit at a table and stay for an hour aren't abusing the system at all. Even if it's just one person at a table reading, we'll say that $n pays for an hour of table time, in addition to the coffee, expenses, profit, etc. In that case, two friends walking in and sharing a table is just a bonus for the shop owner. - If people want to stay for longer than their purchase justifies, they're willing to pay $x for the table, power, wifi, etc. - Nobody wants to pay for both their table space and their coffee. - This coffee shop is _good_ to work in. It's encouraged by the staff, the seating is comfortable, outlets are within reach, the music isn't obnoxious, the food and coffee are good, private rooms might be available for a higher table fee, etc. Given all that, here's how I think it could work: In this coffee shop, a typical customer walks in and orders a cup of coffee from the barista. She makes it, takes his money, and hands him the coffee. The trick is that the cup he's received has a little RFID chip, basically rigged to say 'I am a cup of something'. The customer chooses a table and sits down. On the table is a little device with a coin slot and a display on it. It might be reminiscent of those old jukebox selectors that make you think of '50's diners. The device has a little clock on it, and also a little secondary display. When he sits down, the RFID chip registers with the table and the device on the table registers 1 hour on it's clock. The device also registers the RFIDs unique ID with a server somewhere in the shop, making sure it only works once. After an hour, the clock has run down and the customer is still happily working away. He doesn't really want another coffee yet. The wait staff receives an alert on their handheld (Think an iPod touch or some similar device) that the table has 'expired'. They walk over and ask the customer if they can get them anything else. When he declines, they politely remind him that he'll have to pay for any additional table time, and he can do so with the device on the table. He throws $x into the device, it adds time to the clock and the dollar amount to it's secondary display. Half an hour later, he decides it's time for more coffee. He calls over the wait staff (maybe there's even a little button on the device to call them over), and asks for another coffee. The wait staff looks at their handheld, sees that the table has paid for time, and goes to get the coffee. They gives it to the customer, and charge it against the table on their handheld. The dollar amount on the secondary display decrements to pay for the coffee, but the clock stays the same. Now the purchase of that coffee paid for some of his table time. In this way, he isn't effectively double billed. Opinions?