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Comment by explaininjs | Hacker News Reader

In LA, every small locally owned coffee shop has become totally overrun with folks buying one latte and proceeding to take a whole table to themselves and their laptops for the next 5 hours.

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>every small locally owned coffee shop has become totally overrun with folks buying one latte and proceeding to take a whole table to themselves and their laptops for the next 5 hours.

That's what a third place is and what people are lamenting the lack of now.

No, that’s what a second place is. A third place is for socialization, a second place is for work. Just because you’re relying on some independent small business owner to pay rent for your desk while you prevent other customers from patronizing the establishment and don’t talk to anyone, doesn’t make it a third place.

Agreed, but with a caveat: It goes back into "third place" territory if they're engrossed in a laptop-hobby rather than laptop-employment, even though many of the external favors are identical.

There are solutions for this.

In Italy they charge you for the seat.

I have been to places where they charge for a laptop too.

In addition you can minimize cellular network reception and charge for wifi.

The last thing is not legal in the US. Marriott got in trouble with the FCC over this.

https://www.cnn.com/2014/10/03/travel/marriott-fcc-wi-fi-fin...

Actively. You can however consider it when choosing a location (although obviously, the mobile network providers can make changes outside your control which might change your 'USP').

can always cover the walls and make it a Faraday cage?

Not legally.

We love the look of those tin ceiling tiles so much we covered our walls with them too!

In germany we have tapestry that blocks hf signals.

I could not find an English shop that sells it with nice pattern, but you can always use something like this :

https://consciousspaces.com/products/yshield-hnv100-emf-shie...

The FCC only has jurisdiction over active transmissions. They have no power to say that I can't build my hotel out of reinforced concrete that acts as an effective faraday cage.

Are the owners not enforcing time limits or drink minimums?

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