Hacker News Reader

Comment by Simulacra | Hacker News Reader

REAL LIFE. Real Life is the next internet! In the future, people will go outside and talk to one another, face to face! We will congregate in libraries and bookstores, and drink coffee that doesn't suck or cost over $2 a cup. The future is coming....

View on HN

I keep thinking this same thing myself, and have tried to work the IRL-angle, but when you're an adult no one really wants to meet you.

Up until the early 00s, I used to hang out at a coffee/cigarette bar where I knew just about every single person who walked through the door, and people would sit there for hours and hours talking to strangers about very interesting stuff, while drinking insane amounts of coffee and chain smoking.

If those sorts of places still exist, I have no idea where they are.

I do this all the time where I live, in Somerville, MA. Somerville is where all the hippies went when the tech assholes pushed them out of Cambridge; they're being pushed out towards Medford now, but Somerville is still mostly human and hasn't turned into a bench of vendorware mannequins yet (though I see an unhealthy number of kids wearing startup T-shirts, le sigh).

Where in Somerville (if you don't mind my asking)? I used to live there and never knew a place like that!

Pretty much anywhere around the Square, I think. Most of the coffee places, even just chilling out in Davis itself.

Maybe it's because I've always found it difficult to engage people I don't know well, for a variety of reasons. I'm still struggling to get past it. I'm no longer scared to, but still have other mental blocks preventing me. Despite lots of efforts to fix it. It's extremely annoying actually.

I find there's this weird invisible line with most people. They're all willing to talk and hang out and be jovial, but then once you cross the strange invisible line, they don't want to interact anymore. I'm not talking about something creepy, it's more like you've used up all of your in person minutes or something. Now you have to wait till next month before you can engage them again.

One theory I have is that if people don't factor you into their long term goals, they won't want to devote too much time to you. Or maybe I'm overthinking this whole thing.

We gave greasy cafes in the UK. They are the equivalent.

I used to get breakfast every Thursday with a one legged motorcycle courier (still have no idea how that worked) who fought in the gulf war, an HSBC executive and a fishmonger. I miss that.

I have kids now and other parents are horrible people.

Wow, that sounds awesome!

Still around. Same coffee places, but everyone has to sit outside on the sidewalk if they want to smoke. The people are less interesting these days.

You've basically described a dive bar. They're everywhere. (Serious side note: the only downside is that all of the regulars are alcoholics.)

I've yet to meet a smart person at a dive bar, and that is not for want of trying.

You were there, so it's not impossible :)

My friend, we should meet. First cuppa coffee is on me, or five. Same goes for the rest of you. If Imgur can have a camp, I think hacker news can take over a coffee shop/bookstore

Actually people are already talking face-to-face.

It's still a bit expensive at the moment though, as it requires smartphones with a decent front camera and fast connectivity, but early results are encouraging.

Touché!

Overrated. The internet is immensely more stimulating, that's what drove us there in the first place. If you 're old enough to remember the pre-internet world, you 'd know what i mean.

I am! I remember the incredible discovery of meeting people far away across large bulletin board systems, and IRC chat rooms. It led to lifelong in person friendships. I'm afraid that now because it's so easy to meet people and disengage from people at will, we have no reason to invest in long-term friendships.

less than $2 a cup <-- here is your internet weirdo :-)

Meet me at the waffle house, I could buy three people a cup of coffee for two dollars :-S

Reply on news.ycombinator.com