foosballcoach: Don't you people have homes?

O_o

Braindeath: R.A.Danny: If you are one of those people who uses Starbucks as their office, sits in a store for 8+ hours a day, putting all your files on a table, using a separate chair for your laptop case/ suitcase enjoying unlimited free refills with your Starbucks card, asking for cups of water and refuse to to move until you are good and ready all for the $1.85 you pay as "rent," then perhaps your actions will answer your questions

I worked at a coffee shop - not Starbucks - and it is unbelievable what shiat people pull. I hate to say this, but I'm siding with Starbucks here.

Mr. Coffee Nerves: That happened to a small independent shop near me -- every night the students from the local college would come in and four or five of them would spread out and take up all the available seating. Combined they'd spend maybe $8 and stay there until closing.

This is why I am siding with Starbucks. This happened to us constantly. Go to the farking library.

Real question to you and to these Starbucks locations: is it not possible to say "you're not buying anything and you're taking up space for paying customers, GTFO"? At some point can't you just decide to refuse people service? It's your damn store, and if you don't want someone's business for a valid reason, such as they are bad for overall business, or they are giant douchecanoes, then they're just trespassing there and probably at that point making a scene and talking about discrimination lawsuits.

labman: DON.MAC: A laptop can suck down nearly $.10 a day in power.

It's not the money, it's the fact that they are tying up all the seating for hours on end.

Tying up seating for who? Other squatters who spend 1.85?

elysive: loaba: soup: [i.imgur.com image 500x361]/at the labs where I've worked, about half of the computers have been Macs

That's so first-years have a computer that they too can use and not screw up.

jaylectricity: Hmmm...looks like I could go door to door to coffee shops offering to turn their outlets to blank plates.

I see this happening instead - Link (new window)

BG-J38: Best I ever saw was a small coffee shop that had a single outlet available in the back that I happened to be sitting near. Only thing was it was a 125V, 20A outlet. For those not familiar with these, imagine your normal North American outlet. Now take one of the vertical prongs and rotate it to be horizontal. I was there for about 20 minutes and saw at least 4 people get really excited and then really sad when they realized they couldn't plug in. I LOL'd.

That would likely be 240V. A normal 125V/20A outlet has one hole T-shaped to accept either 15A or 20A plugs (no harm in not drawing the full rated current available). But the *other* hole is only one direction or another to indicate the voltage (a huge problem if you mix that up).

elysive: at the labs where I've worked, about half of the computers have been Macs
So, like, half the machines have been useful then?

If you wanna rock your Mac in a work environment, go for it. Just know this, you're in the minority for a reason. A Windows machine does everything (and more) that a Mac does, and usually for less.

I don't understand how anyone could get any real work done at a SB. The place is always loud. You are being distracted by people bumping into you. I like to be left alone in a quiet room so I can concentrate and have the occasional conversation with myself without getting strange looks. And I make a damn good cup of joe.

Lacking a laptop and a desire to go to 4bux, I'm fine with this restriction. No business is obligated to give you free anything, especially office space.

Calm Down You Spaz: Tying up seating for who? Other squatters who spend 1.85?

Or perhaps normal people who have a half hour to kill between meetings and wouldn't mind sitting down while drinking a cup of coffee.

LucklessWonder: Transformers: Exodus

Read that at the beach, and loved it.

Gladiator bots FTW.

penguinfark: my French press


I never drink instant coffee. I only buy whole beans and grind 'em myself. Then I press the hell out of 'em. Yeah, I know, I should be roasting my own beans... I'm working up to that.

This reminds me, in France they have 3 different prices for a cup of coffee. 1. If you want it to go 2. if you want a small outside table 3. if you take up a table on the inside.

NightOwl2255: HotWingConspiracy: Dragonduck: Why not just go to the public library?

That's where homeless people go to masturbate.

You don't have to be homeless to tug one off at the public library. Or so I've been told...

You ain't kidding. (clicky pop)

Posting from my IPod touch at work using the starbucks wifi from across the parking lot so I'm getting a kick

Starbucks tells customers "Go be phat somewhere else"

Sometimes I end up at a Starbucks when I have a flight later in the day and need to work for a couple hours. Working in a Starbucks is no picnic but it beats working in an airport. A library might be better, but Starbucks is easier to find, they are usually consistent, and they have caffeinated beverages. If I had more than 5 hours I would go sightseeing so I don't hang out there all day.

I don't think covering outlets is the best way to solve this problem since it will annoy a lot of good customers who like being able to come in for 30 minutes or so, drink some coffee and charge up their computer/smartphone while using the internet. You don't want to restrict them, and if anything you should be doing more to accommodate them - usb charging ports would be very cheap to install and very useful for a lot of people.

Here's one possible solution - Lock down the wifi, whenever anyone buys something they get a password on their receipt that will give them an hour of wifi access, maybe 90 minutes if they use their Starbucks card.This would probably stop most freeloaders in their tracks, though the real diehards could simply dig unused receipts out of the trash. Another solution would be to make a simple policy stating that management can, at their discretion, ask people to leave if they have stayed too long without buying anything. When it's not busy you could let people do what they want, but when it fills up tell people they either need to buy something or leave..

Go Fast Turn Left: While the nitwit in TFA was whining about it going against their "3rd place" thing, there's still a level of decency involved. For instance, I don't wear pants in my house and try not to at work when nobody else is in the office, but if I show up to Starbucks and press my junk up against the glass for all to see like I would at home,someone's probably going to complain.

You don't wear pants at work when you can get away with it? That sounds awfully risky...

frepnog: seriously, is there some "cool factor" to sitting around in starbucks all day?

It is an iDouche mating display. Frigate birds inflate a sack under their throat, bonobos fence with their penis, and the douche builds a nest of pretty iProducts in a coffee shop.

You gather at a coffee shop and build a nest of all your beautiful collected trinkets. The macbook gets set up just so, that way everyone can see. Your iPhone is placed delicately on the table, at a slight angle, with your iPod Touch playing a gentle tune through the white earbuds. (Both? Yes... the more iTrinkets the better.) Then, you wait for a female to be attracted to the warm glow of the backlit Apple logo.

That guy who brought his whole desktop? The other males trying to mate that day had their genitals deflate, and they slunk away defeated. Any receptive iFemale that entered that coffee shop that day would have been moist, and mated with him right there on the spot.

MassD: labman: It's not the money, it's the fact that they are tying up all the seating for hours on end.

Yeah, that would be a HUGE inconvenience to the next person who was planning to do the exact same thing.

I'd be curious to know exactly how much of their business is in-store customers versus the grab and go. Last time I was in a bucks, the drive thru was packed and everyone I was in line with left with their order... the people sitting when I walked in were the same sitting when I walked out.... no one new stayed.

Much to do about nothing.


Obviously it depends on where the Starbucks in question is located. TFA is about Starbucks locations in NYC. NYC locations, just like the urban DC locations where I live, are going to be busy with a lot of people sitting down inside. Out in the suburbs, maybe not so much, but in the city I see it all the time.

And I think this is actually a lovely solution. They're still offering free wifi, so this way they don't actually ask anyone to leave or cut down on advertised services or anything.... it just happens naturally as the battery runs down. I'm totally fine with this.

I was once semi-homeless and unemployed (staying with friends who had no interwebs)...it was very VERY nice to be able to go Starbucks and drink coffee and job search or just surf the web...I'd spend around 2 hours at the most though. And I would usually get a danish along with my coffee if I could afford it...

I had a crappy laptop, with a broken battery - so I required an outlet to function. Sometimes I'd go to the local library as well, but it was so silent in there and sterile (with no food or drink allowed). Starbucks was warm and bustling, and it just felt good to be out in society even though I was broke.

Therefore I tend not to judge those I see in there.

So this presents an opportunity for someone who can start a business and rent out little internet cells with power etc and sell coffee. I would pay $10 for a reserved table. Treat it like parking spaces. The space is smaller and if there are lots of different options, it will work for some people. When I go to a local Panera, I get maybe 2-3 coffees and sit for about 2-3 hours. I wouldn't mind paying if I could get a guarantee of power and would pay even more for a quiet space.

As a web designer who regularly works from home, I head out to my local Starbucks maybe once or twice a week (usually in the morning) for a much needed change of atmosphere. I'll buy a grande coffee (and sometimes a pastry), find a seat and plug in my PC. If I'm lucky, I'll get into one of the cushy armchairs. If not, I'll settle for a seat at a two-top table. I connect to the Optimum WiFi network (a nifty service that comes with my paid cable subscription) and get to work.

I usually stay for two to three hours, handling mostly BS administrative contact work and light research, since I can't do any high-end design work on my laptop. In all the times I've done this, never has there been an instance at which there were no seats left, since the morning rush usually consists of the "grab a cup and get off to work" crowd.

The seat that I occupy and the $0.03 I use in power that my laptop draws during this time allows me to earn more money, some of which goes back onto my Starbucks card. I might be the exception to the rule, but I can't see how my actions could be construed as problematic by either the Starbucks owner or anyone who doesn't already have a chip on his/her shoulder against others who are able to be productive remotely (most likely someone who's used to being confined to a cubicle for 40 hours per week).

loaba: penguinfark: my French press


I never drink instant coffee. I only buy whole beans and grind 'em myself. Then I press the hell out of 'em. Yeah, I know, I should be roasting my own beans... I'm working up to that.

I'm trying to grow my own coffee. :-P

Optimus Primate: Sometimes I'd go to the local library as well, but it was so silent in there and sterile (with no food or drink allowed). Starbucks was warm and bustling, and it just felt good to be out in society even though I was broke.

This is exactly why those who work from home need to get out of the house a few times a week, and find Starbucks to be an inviting destination.

In other news......

Starbucks has revealed the plans for their newly re-modeled coffee shops:

Catran: I don't understand how anyone could get any real work done at a SB. The place is always loud. You are being distracted by people bumping into you. I like to be left alone in a quiet room so I can concentrate and have the occasional conversation with myself without getting strange looks. And I make a damn good cup of joe.

I am a semi-extrovert and I find the presence of other people to be energizing. Loudness is easily taken care of with headphones. I've rarely had anyone bump into me.

I don't only do work at Starbucks like the 8 hour people described in the article, but it's a nice change of scenery.

I'm seeing more and more signs on coffee shops stating that their cafe is not a meeting room and no wi-fi from this hour to this hour etc....

I think it's fair. It keeps the 'tards out that wanna go in and show off their shiny Mac and order a vanilla soy latte and sit for 6 hours updating their facebook account.

b04155: jaylectricity: Hmmm...looks like I could go door to door to coffee shops offering to turn their outlets to blank plates.

I see this happening instead - Link (new window)

Electricity is cheap, especially where handheld devices and laptops are concerned. Any good manager of any store would know that the money spent allowing patrons to charge up is an incredibly profitable loss-leader (new window).

This is the direction in which society should be headed if we want to boost the economy -- not charging $1 for $0.01 worth of services. Capitalism can be good, but exploitation is inherently counterproductive to sustained growth.

loaba: soup: [i.imgur.com image 500x361]

In for the win and the ultimate truth of all things Mac vs. PC.

Yeah, if you ignore all the medical and scientific applications that run on macs, their extensive use in entertainment for A/V stuff, etc.

I can't believe there are still idiots taking sides in a mac vs pc war.

I make a living coding on a PC. At home I use a Mac, or increasingly an iPad, for routine browsing, youtube trawling, etc. Most of the stuff nowadays is web-based anyway, so who really cares what platform you prefer?

TheGreatGazoo: Why not just lock out the wifi for a MAC address after an hour or two? I was in an airport recently that did that. I think it was John Wayne.

Then if you have a dead laptop you can plug it in and check your emails or whatever, but then after you time out it kicks you out for 8 hours or something like that.

Real operating systems let you change your mac address with a 1 line command ...

Go Fast Turn Left: raggtopp: Go Fast Turn Left: While the nitwit in TFA was whining about it going against their "3rd place" thing, there's still a level of decency involved. For instance, I don't wear pants in my house and try not to at work when nobody else is in the office, but if I show up to Starbucks and press my junk up against the glass for all to see like I would at home,someone's probably going to complain.

So? Last I checked, this is America and I pay my taxes.

Ok so now I have to ask....what glass is it you are pressing your junk up against? The TV? The front picture window? A collins glass?

And praytell for who's benefit is it for? At starbucks it would be for the enjoyment of the present company....but home alone?

Do you have cats then?

"according to Starbucks Gossip...and a Starbucks Gossip commenter who speaks with an air of authority says... Developing..."

Are you shiatting me? Is there were the idiot readers from the Consumerist have spread out to?

Cajnik: Are you shiatting me? Is there werewhere the idiot readers from the Consumerist have spread out to?

Whar are electrical plugs? Whar?
/FTFM

loaba: penguinfark: my French press


I never drink instant coffee. I only buy whole beans and grind 'em myself. Then I press the hell out of 'em. Yeah, I know, I should be roasting my own beans... I'm working up to that.

Yeah when Bonnie goes shopping she buys shiat. I buy the gourmet expensive stuff because when I drink it I want to taste it.

Doodah_man: This is a repeat from 1950s, 60s, 70s...called "nursing a coke". Buy a soft drink and sit at a table for hours. It took SBs this long to discover it?

Anyone here seen the movie "Diner"?

To all the morons complaining about squatters in Starbucks.

They are offering free wifi, refills and bathrooms

For those of us in NYC, sometimes you have a few hours to kill in the city, between work, class, etc. You want me to get on the subway and go ALLL the way out to Brooklyn? Fark you.

If they don't want squatters, maybe don't be so accommodating.

/I noticed this in march when my phone died and all I saw were silver plates at one of the many Starbucks in Union square.
//longest i've ever spent there is an hour, and I paid for a roughly $3 tea.

jvowles: loaba: soup: [i.imgur.com image 500x361]

In for the win and the ultimate truth of all things Mac vs. PC.

Yeah, if you ignore all the medical and scientific applications that run on macs, their extensive use in entertainment for A/V stuff, etc.

I can't believe there are still idiots taking sides in a mac vs pc war.

I make a living coding on a PC. At home I use a Mac, or increasingly an iPad, for routine browsing, youtube trawling, etc. Most of the stuff nowadays is web-based anyway, so who really cares what platform you prefer?

Its comfort. I am still old school and like to build my computers but I carry a netbook or a Honeycomb based tablet and remote into my real computer if I need real work done.

Prof. Frink: BG-J38: Best I ever saw was a small coffee shop that had a single outlet available in the back that I happened to be sitting near. Only thing was it was a 125V, 20A outlet. For those not familiar with these, imagine your normal North American outlet. Now take one of the vertical prongs and rotate it to be horizontal. I was there for about 20 minutes and saw at least 4 people get really excited and then really sad when they realized they couldn't plug in. I LOL'd.

That would likely be 240V. A normal 125V/20A outlet has one hole T-shaped to accept either 15A or 20A plugs (no harm in not drawing the full rated current available). But the *other* hole is only one direction or another to indicate the voltage (a huge problem if you mix that up).

Yeah I found that out the hard way the other night.
Tried to plug into the wrong outlet. Wife was not amused. "OUTLET!!" she said. "INPUT" I said. Didnt change the outcome one bit.

Is Starbucks your place of employment? No?

Then take your coffee and GTFO. Actual paying customers would like to use those seats.

frepnog: can someone explain to me why you would go sit in an uncomfortable chair in a fairly loud coffeshop and stay there for hours "working" on your laptop?

why not go the fark home? seriously, is there some "cool factor" to sitting around in starbucks all day? or are you just hiding out from someone? I mean come on, if all I have to do in a day is lounge around starbucks, I am going the fark home.

They're too cool for the library, or have completely forgotten such a thing as a "library" exists.

I asked my boyfriend yesterday why all these coffeehouse squatters couldn't just use the local library to work, and he didn't have an answer. It's pathetic.

LucklessWonder: b) You purchase enough of what they're selling not to be a douche.


Paying $1.85 a day for broadband isn't enough? That's like 55 dollars a month.

jvowles: I can't believe there are still idiots taking sides in a mac vs pc war who don't agree with me.

Fixed that for ya.

jvowles: I make a living coding on a PC am a computer expert whose opinion means more than yours. At home I use a Mac, or increasingly an iPad, for routine browsing, youtube trawling, etc. Most of the stuff nowadays is web-based anyway, so who really cares what platform you prefer?

Yeah, sure, that's cool. Well it is until Steve Jobs decides that Apple users don't need to use X technology anymore...

bangmaid: For those of us in NYC, sometimes you have a few hours to kill in the city, between work, class, etc. You want me to get on the subway and go ALLL the way out to Brooklyn? Fark you.

Yeah, there's nothing else to do in NYC but sit in a Starbucks.