How Small Coffee Shops Feel About Starbucks WiFi
from the mixed-feelings dept
Starbucks' (via T-Mobile) move to offer WiFi access in most of their stores has received a ton of attention lately. However, there have been a bunch of smaller, independent coffee shops that have offered internet access for a while now (sometimes for free), so SFGate wanted to see how these shops felt about Starbucks muscling in on their internet access business. It seems they have mixed feelings. Some are upset that Starbucks is going to steal customers away, even though the T-Mobile offering seems to be a lot more expensive than any small shop is offering. Of course, I still think that these shops should focus on what they do best (selling coffee and associated foods) and simply look at offering free wireless access to bring in new customers. If T-Mobile keeps up its current pricing, then cheaper or free access would certainly counter that. However, there's also one coffee shop owner who says that he doesn't want the sort of traffic that these laptop toting, web surfing types bring in to his coffee shop. It seems they mostly buy a single cup of coffee and then sit there for four hours (admittedly, I am guilty of doing this). Of course, the people who do that, tend to come in during off-peak hours anyway, so they're not keeping anyone else from sitting at a table, and they're still buying something. I just find it amusing to think of laptop-toting wireless web surfing geeks as being the "wrong sort of element" for a coffee shop.
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Ok, so...
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cyber cafes don't work anyway?
It seems to me cyber cafes are more popular in areas where home computers are not widely available, or the computer literacy rate is low. Places like New York City or Moscow has shitloads of them to cater to the Macintosh/"I've never used email before" crowd.
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Re: cyber cafes don't work anyway?
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Re: cyber cafes don't work anyway?
I wonder if there isn't a market for the reverse business model -- shops that jam radio signals so the cell-phoners and laptoppers can be kept away.
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Re: cyber cafes don't work anyway?
I also find it useful when I'm travelling (when I can find a place that has WiFi). I know other business travellers do the same thing as well. Knowing that we can turn a Starbucks into a temporary office for an hour or two is a huge benefit.
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"People here live surrounded by computers at home and work, so going out means getting away from them."
Then explain the popularity - perhaps epidemic - of the cell phone?
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The majority (mass market) doesn't have a clue what wifi is and what it can do for them yet alone try to figure how to go about using it. If their device does not say "you've got mail" or "search" in a simple way, noone understands yet alone cares to.
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Re: cyber cafes don't work anyway?
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Re: cyber cafes don't work anyway?
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Re: cyber cafes don't work anyway?
The Powerboat thread is a bunch of BS, YachtSpots are up and running at over 50 large hotspots throughout the USA. Due to Internet scamsand payment frauds we have stopped selling on our website. Also consider that each YachtSpot is custom to order, it usually takes 10+ days unless it is purchased as a demo on eBay.
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Re: cyber cafes don't work anyway?
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open new buisiness with computers and coffee
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