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WSJ.com – No More Perks: Coffee Shops Pull the Plug on Laptop Users – August 7, 2009 (*may need subscription)

Interesting article. The tradeoff between people sitting and doing nothing for hours vs. attracting customers with the lure of free wi-fi has been ongoing for years now. It’s one of the reasons why Starbucks held out for so long, forcing people who wanted their wi-fi through T-Mobile to pay a ridiculous sum; by doing so, Starbucks hedged against lost revenue from people sitting for hours by taking a cut from T-Mobile.

All of a sudden when free wi-fi became a loss leader for other cafes, diverting customer traffic, Starbucks was forced to capitulate.

As a person who frequents coffee shops quite often (I’ve only been to the Starbucks here in Northampton once, opting for the locally owned Woodstar Cafe instead; remember I’ve always said Starbucks was a crutch to the fact that I never lived near any good, local place), I can easily see the reason why these cafes would want to drive laptop users away. The fact is, the profit margins from running a coffee shop can’t be all that high. Remember, coffee is a commodity and it doesn’t have to be bought from a shop. It’s the other eats that are where profits are more readily realized.

On the one hand, people who are frequenting these shops want the social engagement, but they also want the social isolation by bringing a laptop to work. Anyone who frequents a coffee shop knows that a person with a laptop kills an entire table, since there’s not even a social motive for a “grazer” to ask “mind if I sit here?” The opportunity cost is lost on that customer.

I moreso enjoyed the second half of the article. Figuring out how to be profitable, while still retaining customers who want to use their laptops is a tricky problem. The dichotomy between social engagement and social isolation is a thin one, once you factor in coffee as a commodity. After all, the recessionary frugality mentality seems highly illogical when you argue in favor of “hot water refills” but you want that place to stay open for business so you can have your social isolation.

I believe the saying goes: “You don’t have to home, but you gots to get the hell out of here!” We’ve become so adept at consumerism that despite the recession, we want our cake so we can eat it too. It just can’t be. If I were a shop owner, I wouldn’t be sympathetic to some irrational Yelper like Hannah Moots; you’d have to do some damage control because she’s the type of customer who would affect the Rule of 9s, but you can’t lose sleep over maintaining your business’s existence. It’s simple Maslow Hierarchy-of-Needs.

Me personally, I just make sure to tip about $1 every time I go in.  Since it’s a 30-50% markup on your drink and it puts unrequited coin in their pocket, it shouldn’t give anyone a reason to complain…

From @nprnews: Harvard Prof Arrested; Gates Tried To Get Into Own House http://bit.ly/odLVZ

This interesting story just came through in my NPR tweets. In particular, interesting because the arrest report is for disorderly conduct, not breaking and entering (which, I’d think, would be when the racial profiling would occur). So is this story about the arrest or the profiling (which, only indirectly, had to do with the arrest)? But then, what constitutes disorderly conduct?

Of course, every story has two sides and the arrest report only shows one. Black people never know when the white officer driving by is going to profile them (the cynics would argue they do); white officers never know when the black person they’re arresting is going to accuse them of racism (the cynics would argue they do as well) . Sadly, both parties are in no-win situations — a sad fact of race relations in this country. I’ve got to be pragmatic about issues like this because its impossible to address everyone’s in/sensitivities toward culture. In such famous words: can’t we all just get along?

Nonetheless, I was intrigued by this particular comment on a response by a writer at the Atlantic: http://is.gd/1FFA4

FREE (full book) by Chris Anderson from Scribd

I may not agree with all of Kurt Loder’s libertarian views, but I’ll be damned if I don’t 100% agree with this snippet of his February 2008 interview with Reason Online.

Reason: Do you worry about the fragmentation of culture? Some critics worry about what’s lost from the time when we all had to listen to the same stuff or see the same stuff.

Loder: I think one reason that things are so fragmented is that there’s no talent that can unify the world like the Beatles did. The Beatles appealed to everybody, even old people. Nowadays, you can talk about bands where they are always compared to something else. “It’s like nu-metal, but it’s death metal with touches of ska”—that sort of thing.

But as long as you don’t have this monolithic critical culture defining what things are, you’re going to have to go and seek out music for yourself. Things will be a little splintered until something comes around that is unifying. We’re still waiting for that day, but in the meantime there’s still lots of good music around. But you have to go look for it. It’s not just going to be force-fed to you, although God knows people will try to do that.

For those who don’t know, I’m now living in Northampton, MA.  This is the new stomping ground for my Ph.D. in Marketing at the Isenberg School of Management at UMass-Amherst.  For more on my research interests and other papers, check out my site on Academia.edu (a social network for grad students & professors).

Here’s what’s been going on in the week I’ve been living here:

Friday: Movers came around 10:15, they were out before 1. While they were bringing stuff in, Judi and her mother already started unpacking. By the time we went to bed, 70% of the apartment was unpacked.

Saturday: Went to Stop & Shop to pick up groceries. That place was the size of 5 Key Foods! And they have these hand scanners, so you basically check yourself out while you go! We spent 2 hours there, since we were so in awe.

After unpacking another 28% of the apartment (we just have a couple boxes in the office that we’re not sure what to do with the space), my parents came up around late afternoon. They helped us with a few more things in the afternoon and then we went to dinner at the Northampton Brewery.

Sunday: Ran some unsuccessful shopping errands in Hadley.

Monday: Went to the RMV in Easthampton. Got new MA licenses, a new registration, and new MA plates. Went to the Honda dealership for the registration inspection. Went to the Forbes Library to get library cards. It’s the only public library in the country that also hosts a presidential library (Calvin Coolidge).

Tuesday: Went to BoA to get accounts, but they were busy til noon, so we ran some more errands. Completed car insurance inspection, went out to Hadley to buy a washer/dryer combo, and toured the gym, all before noon. On the way home, did a little bit more driving exploring and found a Wal-Mart, as well as a really nice food coop. We also decided to tour the conservative synagogue around the corner from us, in hopes that maybe we could meet people via it.

Wednesday: Went to the gym in the morning. First time I’ve been to one in about 6-7 years. Came home and waited for the Comcast guy, so we could finally get hooked back up with phone/cable/internet. While it was gone, I was anxious (for being out of touch with civilization) and bored. Now that it’s back, I’m just bored.

Yesterday: Rode our bikes on the Norwottuck Rail Trail 5mi toward Amherst. Got to the Long Hollow Bison Farm in Hadley, before turning around. Was otherwise going to try to get to UMass, but had to get home and still had 3mi to go. Judi’s mother came up with the cats and more shower gifts. The cats are now readjusting to this new place (with two floors!)

The next couple days, I’m actually not sure what we’re going to do with ourselves, now that everything is mostly done. We’ve got to figure out the office a little more, namely so I can hang up the pictures, but I think Judi is going to spend some more time studying for her license exam. Thus, we may get to hang out “downtown” a little more, and I’ll spend some time doing some schoolwork as well. Maybe one of the local coffee shops can give me 20 hrs a week during the summer?