Hi. Welcome to the blog for my IB English B class at Jur Hronec High School in Bratislava, Slovakia. Below you will find links to other websites and discussion questions. My students are required to comment on one of these postings every month and also respond to each other's comments. Feel free to add your two bits, but be aware that all comments are monitored before being posted.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Mooching mocha drinkers
If you owned a cafe, would it be with or without Wi-Fi? And if you had it, would you do something to make sure customers didn’t abuse the privilege? As a customer at a cafe, how long do you feel comfortable sitting before ordering something else? Have you ever been made to feel that you have overstayed your welcome?
I can see what is the problem of the cafe owners: it is mostly that the internet coverage is not for free, thus these "internet hoboes" actually put them in loss. If I owned one, I would probaly would allow the internet, because it really is a part of a modern cafe. My solution would probably be the internet limitation through passwords, refreshed every two hours. Yet I wouldn't make my customers to get a new one, I would ratger extend the validity of currently used one.
ReplyDeleteI personally stayed once in a teahouse for 5 hours, making only one purchase (3,20€ tea), because we (me and about 6 other people) needed a place to crash before 22:00, because our A-plan place was closed. The teahouse was not full (not in time we arrived there) and we seen nobody leaving after a minute with a disappointed look on his face. Still, we made quite a noise (to which contributed two of our friends who joined us later which were high at the time), so we disturbed the peaceful atmosphere of the teahouse. At about 20:00, waiter came to our table and asked us if we wanted anything else. We shared the scared look: He was kicking us out! But one of us ordered tea for himself, so we were saved (by only one tea for 11 people at the time?). I would feel really emberassed if he wouldn't order it, so I think that waitresses CAN effectively kick out people effectively.
So far, I think that all cafes have their own way of dealing with these people, and if free wi-fi would be not profiting, they wouldn'tt provide it.
Essentially, what started out as a mean to attract customers and thus increase revenue is not only backfiring on the café owners but also in some cases cutting their income. A thing I find rather amusing, though, is the fact how they have failed to spot the evident flaws in running such policies. Whenever a system exhibits flaws, it is more than expected to be exploited. The café owners need to press the matter and make up their minds whether they are going to support their current policies or abandon them altogether. I believe it would be more profitable to them if they restrict the Wi-Fi access with passwords and time limits as mentioned in the article or better yet cancelling the service. In my opinion, the prospect of having an available table throughout the whole day and the opportunity of at least 10 people spending money on it, rather than getting $15 and being left with an occupied table, seems much more appealing to me.
ReplyDeleteA statement made by the owner of Blenz George Moen caught my attention. He claims, he does not mind students and other people using the Wi-Fi service, yet at the same time, he supports restricting the access to it and even does this himself. He contradicts himself, which I find to be nothing more than a puny attempt to wash his hands off. His indecisiveness is simply disgusting.
Lastly, I have never found myself in a situation where a waiter would hint at me to leave for staying too long. I won’t usually sit in a café without ordering something, but when I do I never stay for more than two hours before ordering again.
My position towards this subject is clear. If I owned a café I would welcome people who linger there with laptops, even for several hours. In Slovakia it is not such a common sight because, to be honest, Slovakia is after all at least 3 years behind countries in Western Europe or Northern America in terms or technology and trends such as free WIFI. From the point of a visitor I have always welcomed when a fraction of the visitors of the café are on their computers because it gives the place a weird welcoming atmosphere and makes sure that the café is never awkwardly empty.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, if the business is bustling with computer nerds playing games or, as mentioned in the article, watching porn I would turn on my heel and leave right out the door without looking back. Also that same situation must be frustrating for the owners of the café when they have the coffee shop filled with people and no money income.
In the future when I’m in university or if I find myself with a job that would allow it, I would too spend time doing lots of my work in a cafe with a pleasant buzz rather than alone at home in a depressing surrounding. As long as the visitor doesn’t take it too far, as the article mentioned, I believe everyone profits from these visits. In the latter case, where the customer has around for several hours and doesn’t appear to be leaving, he should expect to be given hints by the employees and understand that it is polite to either order something or leave.
Setting time limits on the Wi-Fi is really ridiculous and extremely annoying, especially considering that unless the customer is really downloading something or streaming videos the price of the Wi-Fi is really low. To be completely honest when I see a café with people on computers in it, I think that it is probably is a comfortable place with a good atmosphere and would be more encouraged to visit it than not.
Restaurants and cafés in particular have gone through a considerable change in recent years. They evolved from a place solely designated for socializing with other people to a place where one can actually do some work individually, without looking like a weirdo. I have to say I admired the former. “The buzz of people talking is what a café is. Two people sitting across from each other with headphones on and plugged in is a dead zone.” John Neate exactly captured the issue, and expressed my imagination of a café well. If I owned one I would certainly make it a Wi-Fi-less environment. I don’t consider ‘Internet café’ a meaningless expression, and I think that if somebody wants to work or study for the most part, he should find one; instead of going to a regular café.
ReplyDeleteBy the same token, there might be economic reasons, and cafés could look at Wi-Fi as a key to financial profit. Personally, I would like to maintain a dignity, and don’t implement the internet, unless I would face a major loss or eventually a bankruptcy. In that case, Wi-Fi seems to be a reasonable help in the fight against the odds. As Chris Harrison says, students with hours of studying can spend up to $30 a stint. There is a question whether the table would not be more profitable if more customers exchanged during that time. Moreover, I would definitely restrict the access with time limits and passwords. In my opinion, no one should be bothered to get up at least every two hours and order something else as means to get the password. When the internet is already implemented, the price is not usually a problem for the owner of the café. Such businesses tend to get an unlimited access for a fixed price.
Lastly, I find it very impolite to sit in a café for hours without ordering anything but one drink. I’d be willing to sit for no more than 30 minutes without ordering again after I had consumed previous drink or meal.
Comment on Sam’s Comment
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Sam’s view; Slovakia is indeed a few years behind on these so called “technological trends”. However, I do find it common to see people browsing on their laptops in Wi-Fi enabled venues. I have never yet seen or heard of something like this taken into such extremes as the article mentioned. It really depends on the reputation of the restaurant, I don’t think a low budget and cheap restaurant would care for its customers being too long online as there is no shortage of space in the restaurant.
Charging for the Wi-Fi service or limiting it by changing its password every now and then is not an option; they might as well get rid of the service completely. In my opinion Wi-Fi is supposed to be a service provided by restaurants and cafes free of charge, a sort of luxury to complement the meal or beverage. If owners were to limit the time or bandwidth then they wouldn’t be any different than every internet café. Again, I would have to agree with what Sam said; if people are impolite enough to stay sitting online even after a couple of hours after finishing their beverage then I think it wouldn’t be any more awkward to ask them to leave or order again. People are misconceiving this service as a reason to be in the restaurant or café but, in fact it is just supposed to enhance your time while doing what you are supposed to do there, which is eating and enjoying their food.
I quite agree with both Rasťo's and Sam's opinion. Cafés with a free Wi-Fi connection is a good idea even though it might seem to be simply a trend with no other aim than profit. Provision of a free Internet connection surely isn't that high price for a café and moreover I agree it is quite an effective way of luring costumers. But this is not the whole story. I can't agree more with Sam that for many people it is a welcoming opportunity to work in a considerably less isolated and even depressing environment than alone at home, or worse, in a crowded dorm. I think, especially students and young people would appreciate the atmosphere of a quiet, peaceful café with a non-intruding company and refreshments at hand. Rasťo had a good idea that cafés might provide small tables aimed for customers with a laptop. I think such system would create satisfaction on both sides.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, let me explain why time limits for the Wi-Fi are a nonsense. I think such act has a reason only for profit-hunting owners aiming at short-visiters. From my view as a customer, I would be certainly discouraged by a similar attitude. I think that laptop hobos are essentially the same type of customer as a group of chatting ladies. Both represent a maybe low but stable profit for the café which gives them an atmosphere to feel comfortable in. And yet it is up to the café owner who he prefers.
@Milan Smolík
ReplyDeleteI don’t really share Milans idea, what he mentioned in his comment, of cafes owners having only one problem: “that the internet coverage is not for free”. There are many other various problems occuruing for sure, though usually people that don’t really see into “the marketing world” don’t see them. However, I agree with him that If I would be a café owner I would definitely allow the internet, wifi access, because it is nowadays an unremarkable part of our lives and part of the modern world. Though I would also use passwords for wifi in order to avoid unauthorized accesses. I think I would solve it by giving the password to only the customers. I also totally agree with Milan that if free wifi wouldn’t be profiting for the café owners they wouldn’t provide it. Nowadays, the cafes benefit mainly because of the internet accesses, because most people go there to do their work for school or other educational or work purposes.
This is a comment on Simon’s comment:
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Simon when he said that it is not very polite to sit in a café when you ordered just one drink or what. People often do that they just order one coffee, and they sit in the café and work on their computer for 3 hours.
In my opinion it is a very good idea to have a free Wi-Fi in the café and I would definitely provide it for the costumers if I would own a café. From my own experience I know that I prefer cafés with Wi-Fi, because I often need to check something, or I just want to browse Facebook. I think I would definitely rather choose a café with Wi-Fi than a café without Wi-Fi. In my opinion most of the young teenagers have the same opinion. So I do not really agree with Simon when he said that he thinks it is not a good idea to implement Wi-Fi into a café. However, I really like his idea to restrict the acces with time limits and passwords, to avoid the random people who come to an internet café and sit there for 3 hours with just one drink. That is the case when the café probably doesn’t profit very much.