Should Starbucks ban laptops?, in CNET

There’s a general assumption in articles like these that it would be better—not just financially beneficial to coffee shops, but flat-out better, say, for humanity—if folks socialized more, and typed less, in coffee shops. This assumes a few things.

• That people go to places like coffee shops because they want to talk and meet other people and not, for example, enjoy a pleasant cup of steaming brew while musing, daydreaming, or thinking deeply in a place designed for relaxing imbibition.
• That when folks are on their computers, they’re not socializing.
• That there is something wrong with sitting silently but comfortably in a group of similarly-engaged companions if that activity involves one’s laptop (quiet study groups, or people reading books, appear to be above criticism).
• That it is better to talk to the people around you than to be silent and engrossed in an activity.
• That choosing one’s computer over contact with strangers is bad.
• That one should reasonably expect a coffee shop to be a lively and social place.
• That working on a laptop excludes the possibility of conversation, with friends or with strangers.

I think that most folks who have worked on laptops in coffee shops for any period of time would know most, if not all, of these assumptions aren’t true. The coffee shops that I have known and loved best, the ones with the strongest community, are those that allow people to comfortably do whatever it is they’d like to do at that coffee shop.

(via timoni)

This whole issue reminds me of something that was brought up when I was in college. The U of C was running out of places to keep books. Yet when most people were polled about what they did in the library, or what they valued about the library, it was the abilty to go there and study.

As a culture (particularly in SF) we spend a lot of time in front of our computers. But if people are so concerned about the isolation of no one talking to each other in coffee shops, how is isolating people alone in their apartments or houses somehow better?