Every morning, by the time you squeeze into the long line at the coffee shop, the laptop brigade already has staked out some of the best seats. The early arrivals are still there at lunch. And after lunch. And into the mid-afternoon, nursing a cup of coffee or a bagel and . . . tap-tap-tapping away on their laptops. Taking advantage of the free Wi-Fi. Oblivious to the commotion around them.
Oblivious to . . . you and the notion that you might briefly need a place to sit.
We've wondered, how do restaurants make money on these cyber squatters? Now there's an answer, courtesy of The Wall Street Journal: Many don't. At least, not enough money.
Some restaurateurs in the Big Apple are crabby about this. They say the customers plant themselves in the primo seats of their establishments to freeload off the wireless service. Some patrons appear with a tea bag for a free hot water refill, the paper reports, or "quietly unwrap homemade sandwiches."
Oblivious to . . . you and the notion that you might briefly need a place to sit.
We've wondered, how do restaurants make money on these cyber squatters? Now there's an answer, courtesy of The Wall Street Journal: Many don't. At least, not enough money.
Some restaurateurs in the Big Apple are crabby about this. They say the customers plant themselves in the primo seats of their establishments to freeload off the wireless service. Some patrons appear with a tea bag for a free hot water refill, the paper reports, or "quietly unwrap homemade sandwiches."
Before wi-fi it was books and magazines. Before that it was parchment and scrolls. How long should you allow a person who buys a small coffee to linger at a primo window seat that you are paying $50 a square foot for?
