Many indie coffee cafes now restrict, or ban outright, the use of e-reading devices

[outlander78]

I'm glad to read this. I don't go to coffee shops to read - if I want to sit down, it is usually to treat my kids to a donut or cookie. I hate seeing all the tables taken over by people to cheap to get an Internet connection at home.

Notebooks are definitely a problem, iPads are mixed use so probably an issue, but I don't see the harm in people having a dedicated ebook reader - how much work can you really do with a kindle?

Plan B, enforce the "thank you for visiting, please don't stay for more than 30 minutes" signs you see up in many places.

[outlander78]

Originally Posted by neb52

Just get rid of the electrical outlets and large tables. For the full meal stores, like Panera and Micky D's, have the large tables for customers eating full meals only. If you want the "self employed" types coming in and camping out, partition off a part of the store and rent a desk and electrical outlet by the hour to them.

Or ask them to leave, in a loud voice. Perhaps have the staff do a musical number featuring directions to Staples (for office furniture). Seriously, are these table hogs really a benefit to the businesses they frequent?

[amo]

Wow, if coffee shops would have had an issue with people reading/writing in their space in 1994, Harry Potter would never have come into existence...

[boxcorner]

I often stop at a café, on the way back from shopping. The proprietors are always friendly and welcoming. I'm always glad to have a break from driving, happy to enjoy real unadulterated coffee and read an e-book. I can stay as long I want - there's never any hassle. There's never any pressure to buy more than one coffee, or to leave - they want me to go back. I suppose it's partly to do with cultural differences, but if I was treated any differently then I'd simply go elsewhere.

[DArenson]

I go to my coffeeshop a couple times a week to read or write. I never spend more than $5. They don't seem to mind, even if I stay for an hour or two. That's why they have tables.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by snipenekkid

ummmm...first we NEED to take away your coffee, with the spray-n-pray posting spree. haha!!

Next, dunno if your heart can handle this, but it's been a while since there were intermissions at the movies. Heck a guy hardly has time to grab a bucket-o-pcorn, a barrel-o-beverage and grab a fast pre-credits tinkle before the show starts these days.

See, you are not culturated. Met at the Movies is Opera. Fat ladies & all that. One, maybe two halftimes. At that point I'm refilling the bucket. actually, I sneak in sandwiches...

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

It involves the intricate and beautiful American Coffee ceremony where coffee is prepared in the rare "Mr. Coffee" 'drip-o-lator'. There are no loose grounds, no presses, no exotic roasts or blends, NO frothing of any sort.

Me, I have an antique Melitta one cup automatic drip device, which takes the obscure and hence impressive #1 filter. In fact, I have two of them in case the first one dies, if ever. I think I've had these for 20 years, probably longer.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by boxcorner

Novel crime, or crime novel?

Wouldn't that wreck its ambience?

You can't do that with an ebook...

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by Harmon

See, you are not culturated. Met at the Movies is Opera. Fat ladies & all that. One, maybe two halftimes. At that point I'm refilling the bucket. actually, I sneak in sandwiches...

Do you go to the live HD broadcasts? If so, I hope the Met has gotten a lot better with their feeds - the first few seasons they did it were fraught with issues. The patrons generally thought that it was all the theatre's fault, so those broadcasts were stressful days for me; it would be like me blaming my TV when CBS screws up the Grammy Awards broadcast.

But then, if not for those days I would never have realized how many ways one can (mis)pronounce "La fille du régiment". I am sooo glad I changed careers.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

Do you go to the live HD broadcasts? If so, I hope the Met has gotten a lot better with their feeds - the first few seasons they did it were fraught with issues. The patrons generally thought that it was all the theatre's fault, so those broadcasts were stressful days for me; it would be like me blaming my TV when CBS screws up the Grammy Awards broadcast.

But then, if not for those days I would never have realized how many ways one can (mis)pronounce "La fille du régiment". I am sooo glad I changed careers.

We've been going to the live ones, but all these old people keep beating us to the good seats, so our plan for next year is to go to the rebroadcasts.

This year has been issue-free, from the transmission side. The main problem we have is that the theatre doesn't turn up the lights during intermissions. Plus the popcorn & drink sizes are unwieldy. And they often have the sound turned up on the apparent theory that shows like Dr. Atomic are action flics.

I, personally, can mispronounce La fille etc in several languages. But boy did I enjoy that one! Natallie Dessay is not only a great singer, but a fine comic actress.

This year, Carmen was astounding. I almost skipped it, because, y'know, I've seen it a few times. Glad I didn't make that mistake.

[Mr. Dalliard]

I'm all for it. Well, not a ban on reading, but for a tougher attitude towards the large number of people who appear to have zero consideration for others. There have been many times when I have wanted to enjoy a coffee with the family after a day of shopping, only to find that the place is full of individuals taking up a whole table, and nursing an empty cup while they read a book, do their homework, or write a novel.

A 60 minute limit during peak times, with an additional 20 minutes for each cup thereafter. Perhaps that would put an end those social misfits extracting the urine...

[boxcorner]

Originally Posted by doreenjoy

... And I've done a quick survey, too.

Guess you didn't get caught.

Originally Posted by jshzh

... in a developing country a basic McDonald's coffee may help a teenager experience "being modern" -- whatever that means -- because that what they see in American movies and TV commercials ...

The marvels of civilisation.

Originally Posted by amo

Wow, if coffee shops would have had an issue with people reading/writing in their space in 1994, Harry Potter would never have come into existence...

She would have been sensible, and moved on to a tea shop.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by amo

Wow, if coffee shops would have had an issue with people reading/writing in their space in 1994, Harry Potter would never have come into existence...

OK, so there IS an upside.

[snipenekkid]

Originally Posted by Harmon

See, you are not culturated. Met at the Movies is Opera. Fat ladies & all that. One, maybe two halftimes. At that point I'm refilling the bucket. actually, I sneak in sandwiches...

d'oh!! dang this small townto which I've ben exiled! I see what ya wrote nooow...of courde I read it as "the Met" as in the MMA anf "the Movies"...sigh, pitty me for I have been assimulated bu Podunck Nowhere and have lost al connection to real people who have atually dined at restaurants with real cloth napkins & nowhere on the menu is the phrase "supersize me" to match my fries.

[travfar]

Originally Posted by outlander78

I'm glad to read this. I don't go to coffee shops to read - if I want to sit down, it is usually to treat my kids to a donut or cookie. I hate seeing all the tables taken over by people to cheap to get an Internet connection at home.

Notebooks are definitely a problem, iPads are mixed use so probably an issue, but I don't see the harm in people having a dedicated ebook reader - how much work can you really do with a kindle?

Plan B, enforce the "thank you for visiting, please don't stay for more than 30 minutes" signs you see up in many places.

Man. I guess this is the difference between the East and West Coast. On West Coast, the mom and pops coffee shops go out of their way to entice people to stay. When they redo the places, they make sure that each table has at least one power outlet. Well... except for the communist coffee shop. They block all the outlets. If they really want to get rid of the laptop people, just turn off the wifi. Here on the West Coast, you look weird if you don't have a laptop in a coffee shop. I guess people in New York just don't have a cafe culture. On the West Coast, as in Europe, we do. The same people hang out in a coffee shop every day. I go every day and see the same people there pretty much every day. It's like going to the local pub when I was in London.