chouchinhua

Working on an dedicated offline space. Screen device are stored to a locker. Serves coffee and beverages and light food. (There will be a small separate space for occasional screen/internet access in case of need)

I've been working on the idea for about a year now. I have put up the funds and set up the corporation. Been busy designing the menu, scouting an ideal location and finding the right front-end staff.

I like this system. This is also somewhat similar to the bullet journal system, but in a "to-do list" context. Every month you write down your to-dos. The next month you cross off those that no longer matter, and move forward those that are still relevant and pending.

I'd agree with this. Those who think at a high level of abstraction often come to conclusions that almost sound like cliche to those who are not: "what the users want", "think counterintuitively", "because smart people cluster," etc. The advices sound hollow, almost like a bad sales pitch. The weight comes from the one giving the advice. It may be an issue of writing technique, but not an issue of credibility.

I see your pain. That's why I posted a related startup idea here recently. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32493174 It's basically a villa / meditation center without internet connection. One interesting sample is in UK. https://unplugged.rest/

Regarding travel, Eric Schmidt had an interesting story. I think he spoke on Tim Ferriss's podcast that once he was on a business trip to North Korea with a group of people. Before boarding the plane, he was instructed by homeland security people to not bring in any connected devices, including phones. So everyone in the group went in without smartphones. For the next 2 weeks "everyone in the group became best friends" and they "had so much fun and many interesting conversations." (I'm paraphrasing) But once they return to airport and got their phones back, "we all immediately sunk into our phones and stopped talking to each other."

Maybe your best bet is North Korea? Seriously though, I think more and more people will see the benefit of occasionally entering into an "internet free" zone, by themselves or in groups. Preferably the zone is designed specifically for offline experience, not an augmented one relying on the guest's own "will power" to resist the pressure of internet.

Taipei city, I can confirm many restaurants now do this. I suspect many restaurants in China have gone this route for a while now as their service landscape is more phone-heavy.

Unfortunately from where I live, even mountains and canyons have cellular signals. . . .

I'd also like to know. Hopefully HN is one of them.

I appreciate both yours and arkitaip's feedbacks. Good questions to think about.

As to "who's the customers?" I've jotted down 4 types of customer profiles that I think have the most urgent needs. You'll probably understand the scenarios from the descriptions: 1. the writer on deadline 2. the CEO that needs deep thinking (say Bill Gates) 3. the busy couple that needs to talk heart-to-heart (this is for a couple setting) 4. the exhausted dad who just wants to do nothing

As to the urge of constantly reaching for phone, I hear you. One method I find helpful during a "digital detox" is to write down whatever answers I want to search for. This way I can kick the idea out of my mind and stay out of internet a bit longer.

I have not. I'll try it out.

Thank you. Great idea on working with manga cafes at first.

Thank you for such precious feedback. I could not have asked for more. Glad to know someone is working on something similar and have found some success. Do you have a website that I can see your work? I would also be interested in knowing what metrics did you use to measure, and how did it improve.

I can also foresee the high cost of B2C business, given it is a physical business after all. But I thought it's the only way to control the quality at first. Building rooms to spec for a B2B client is quite innovative! Best luck to you as well.

Landline is a good idea.

Yes. Korean bath house, Japanese spa and "manga coffee" are all inspirations. City could use more spaces dedicated to different kind of offline activities.

Thank you. I didn't know of these programs. In my city, public libraries are not used enough. Most are used by students preparing for national tests, or people just hanging out, enjoying the air conditioning.

I think the use cases overlap a bit. But the space I'm thinking about will also have a bed (or reclining chair) and a (shared) bath facility. It would be more private, internet-free, and more clean. I'd have to study why people don't step in library as often.

Discipline is the key word here. Exercise is free in any open space, but many people (including me) maintains regular exercise only after hiring a personal coach, and only in a proper gym. And they're better for it. If staying offline is beneficial to human, maybe it's worthwhile trying to monetize on helping people stay offline once in a while?

Thanks! I understand the marketing needs to turn from selling the negative ("no internet") to selling the positive ("focus").

I fully understand the anxiety to stay contactable, as a father of two children myself. I haven't figured out a good solution to balance the needs to stay connected and the needs to stay disconnected, though. One solution is a concierge operator, like what you mentioned. I've heard some luxury villas provide such service. iPhone and Android provides call forwarding function, so the guest could set up a temporary forwarding to the concierge number during stay.

Not only gyms, I can also see similarities to country clubs and golf clubs. So it wouldn't surprise me if the business model turns out similar to these membership structures. I'm not sure the take is necessarily cynical, or just price discretion for different levels of needs.

Marketing would be absolutely crucial, as you and many people have rightly pointed out.

Understood. I probably should have said "purchase session in hours" instead of "charging by the hour." The point was to distinguish it from buying a night's stay as in a hotel.

There's actually a surprising numbers of things one can do without connectivity. My usual routine at a staycation is to (1) first write out everything that comes to my mind -- "emptying" my thoughts. This usually takes up an hour. Then (2) do strategic planning, such as prioritizing to-dos on a 3- to 5-year timeline. (3) do creative work such as writing. Finally (4) rest, or read.

One idea is to let the guest put his device in a faraday cage, locked, and bring the cage into the room. The key of the cage would be kept at the counter accessible to the guest also in a self-serve manner. So the guest will know he has his device with him, but cannot use it during his stay.

"The first thing that comes to mind though: How do you stop this being used as a place for drugs and sex? How do you balance the low distraction and privacy with a basic need to prevent the spaces being used in a way that creates risk for the business?"

Prevent sex -- by only allowing one person in the room at a time. I've also thought about a semi-private space where the room is largely separated but not completely insulated. Like the door is opaque but not completely transparent?

Prevent drug use -- honestly have no idea for now.

This is a pretty good summary of the philosophical difference between Thomas's and Breyer's view of copyright.

I'll add that Thomas points out that if Breyer wants to talk about "thin" copyright, he should have discussed it within the copyrightability context, not skirting and discussing it in the "fair use" segment. If Breyer does so, Thomas argues, Breyer would find that "thin" copyright is still copyright, and Google will have no argument left to support fair use. All the remaining facts (such as competition, loss royalty, etc.) would support non-fair use.