Fergie's Tech Blog

Cafés find Wi-Fi boom unsettling

An article by Glenn Fleishman (The New York Times) in The International Herald Tribune:

SEATTLE The staff at Victrola Café & Art is sick of talking about Wi-Fi. Given the opportunity, they prefer to talk about café culture, or how to create a nuanced light roasted coffee.

But the subject of Wi-Fi - specifically, the café's move to cut back on the free connection it provides for patrons' Internet use - has been impossible to avoid.

"It's distracting," said Jen Strongin, a co-owner.

Victrola started providing free wireless access two years ago after customers asked for it. As in hundreds of other cafés, the owners hoped it would encourage regulars and infrequent patrons to buy more food and drinks. But there was also a disadvantage, staff members said: The café filled up with laptop users each weekend, often one person to a table for four. Some would sit for eight hours purchasing a single drink, or nothing at all.

Even worse, when lingerers were confronted, they were bellicose. "We get yelled at by people who feel it's their right" to use Victrola's Wi-Fi without buying anything, Strongin said. Tony Konecny, the shop's head roaster, added, "It's rarely a pleasant interaction."

posted by Fergie @ 6/13/2005 08:20:00 AM