cafes, wireless, and Davis

[jadelennox]

story found via dk_medianation:

From the Globe on wireless in cafes:

In Davis Square, Diesel Cafe charges for wireless -- about $14 a month -- but co-owner Jen Park said she also confronts customers who are not buying food. Perhaps the worst offenders are the people who buy coffee at the Starbucks across Elm Street, then head for the comfortable red booths at Diesel with their Starbucks cup in hand, she said.

``My approach tends to be friendly, like `Can I get you anything?' " Park said. ``Usually, the answer is `no.'
...
Up the street in Davis Square, O'Naturals offers wireless as a free amenity, but recently began shutting off its signal during its busiest hours. Manager Sonja Seglin said laptop users used to linger on a single cup of coffee during lunch, leaving nowhere for newcomers to eat their soups and sandwiches. The lunch crowd complained, and O'Natural's now shuts off its Wi-Fi access from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
...
The way Brandli sees it, Diesel offers ``a bargain" as far as workspaces go: Each month, she spends about $60 on food, plus $14 for the internet, much less than the cost of renting an office in Davis Square.

I've seen people sit in the Diesel with nothing for an hour during busy times, then take a lunch bag with sandwich and drink out of their bags and happily chow down without paying a cent.

Comments

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

The Emack & Bolio's offers free wireless but only for 4 hours per day. Neighborly, but keeps ne'er do-wells from abusing the privilege. Of course, if they are charging then it becomes harder to put boundaries on how long someone can use a service that they've paid for.

Also: I wonder if paid wireless has exacerbated the problem. With free wireless it's sort of breezy and casual. With paid wireless I could see people wanting to get "their money's worth" so to speak and so really staying longer than they would if they weren't paying for it.