Laughter not laptops: cafe culture fights back against keyboard invaders

Of course people are free to run their cafe however they like and if they succeed I am happy for them. The article mentions that originally it was a business decision for the example cafe they are focusing on and I think that is the root of it. I am unconvinced by the better vibes based argument. People using cafes as a work and meeting space is nothing new. Before it was laptops people read books or the newspaper or wrote in notebooks. In the early 1900s Stefan Zweig said of Viennese cafes:

"actually a sort of democratic club, open to everyone for the price of a cheap cup of coffee, where every guest can sit for hours with this little offering, to talk, write, play cards, receive post, and above all consume an unlimited number of newspapers and journals."

Coffee in cafes is more expensive and one reason people spend the money is because of the nice space. If cafes in high traffic areas want to increase profits by focusing on a more profitable segment of customers that is totally OK but it should be understood as a business offering less service to make more money and not as social commentary.

Personally, I feel the vibes are better in a chill cafe without a ton of rules. I used to work in cafes in college a bit when I shared a small apartment and had no desk. I was really grateful for that and I tried to always buy multiple things if I was there too long or share a table. Now I work in cafes pretty rarely but I feel less welcome in a cafe with rules because it lets me know they would prefer I leave as soon as possible.

Last year I discovered that a new router from our ISP was issuing one-hour DHCP leases, which would frequently bump me out. It occurred to me to wonder whether this was a standard setting for coffee shops.

Maybe we need internet cafes where you bring your own laptop. Charge by the hour during work hours if these remote workers are such a menace.

Makes sense. You want to en courage turnover. A single coffee for 8 h of seating is too cheap.