[HN Gopher] Starbucks in Korea asks customers to stop bringing i...
___________________________________________________________________
Starbucks in Korea asks customers to stop bringing in
printers/desktop computers
Author : zdw
Score : 177 points
Date : 2025-08-11 22:39 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (fortune.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (fortune.com)
| pstuart wrote:
| Seems like an opportunity for a coworking-lite space -- rent a
| seat/desk spot for 1 hour blocks.
| worthless-trash wrote:
| With starbucks delivery, starbucks printing, etc.
| SparkyMcUnicorn wrote:
| I somehow doubt that people are lugging a desktop and printer
| around the city, only to set it up and work for 1 hour in
| Starbucks.
| pstuart wrote:
| By the hour, implying multiple are possible.
| recursivecaveat wrote:
| They actually have exactly that for gaming: a "pc bang" like a
| internet cafe. I wonder if it has been tried in earnest for co-
| working. You would think it is an easier business so long as
| the demand is there.
| iojcde wrote:
| There's also study cafes, which are aimed more primarily at
| students but often have working spaces for laptop use. These
| are quiet spaces to focus compared to something like
| Starbucks or PC bangs though.
| bryanhogan wrote:
| There's already a large offering of such spaces in Korea. You
| have cafes where you can bring your laptop and work in peace,
| there's pc cafes / pc bangs which are more for gaming but
| provide a desktop, there are places where you can rent co-
| working spaces or spaces for co-working that you can use with a
| membership.
| Oreb wrote:
| Isn't that how most coworking spaces work already? I've worked
| from a lot of them, and it always worked like that: I check in
| when I arrive in the morning, and when I check out at the end
| of the day, I pay for the number of hours I have spent there
| (often capped to a maximum of 5 hours or so, even if I stay
| longer).
| pstuart wrote:
| My original comment was an offhand observation, but the
| difference under assumption is that co-working spaces require
| a contract/commitment, whereas the scenario I had in mind was
| no commitment other than paying for each time of use.
|
| Maybe that's already a thing; my sense of self is not
| dependent upon being "right" in this matter.
| arkh wrote:
| What a novel concept!
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_bang
| philipallstar wrote:
| I first assumed this was a YouTube video where someone eats a
| PC in front of their livestream audience.
| EE84M3i wrote:
| Co-working spaces of all types are ubiquitous in Tokyo FWIW.
| Near my midsize station I had about 10 different providers in a
| 10 minute walking radius, some with multiple locations even!
|
| Most have a selection of plans to choose from: hourly, daily,
| monthly, etc
|
| I chose a bit more upscale one without a fixed seat. I pay
| Y=1100 (7.5 USD) I think for each day I use it, with a monthly
| minimum spend of Y=2200. It comes with free mediocre
| coffee/tea. It is consistently clean and library quiet as
| people follow the posted rules including minding the volume of
| their typing and headphones.
|
| I would be surprised if the situation in Seoul was
| significantly different.
| _rm wrote:
| I feel genuinely sad for anyone who's in such a desperate spot
| that they're doing this
| pfannkuchen wrote:
| What makes you think they're desperate? IME people from Asian
| cultures sometimes have ways of thinking that strike at least
| me personally as basically alien. And then my brain
| interpolates their motives wrong based on biases that are
| shaped by western versions of politeness etc.
| shinycode wrote:
| People bring printers to Starbucks... really ? I'm kind of
| surprised it feels like an abuse to me o_O it would never cross
| my mind
| arkh wrote:
| South Korea is cyber cafe country. If you open a cafe there,
| people expect some specific services.
|
| I guess the fact people come with PCs and printer is a way to
| demonstrate how they don't want this part of US culture and
| would like to keep theirs. So either adapt and start offering
| PC bang in South Korea or go home.
| somedude895 wrote:
| Or you know, you could just not go there if you don't like
| the place rather than be a prick to people who work there and
| customers who like going there.
| thrown-0825 wrote:
| Hard to do when starbucks is a real estate holding company
| that sells coffee. They have sucked all the air out of the
| cafe space and driven out their competitors.
| yorwba wrote:
| Driven out their competitors where? In Seoul, Twosome
| Place and Hollys are ubiquitous, there's a few more
| chains whose names I don't remember off the top of my
| head and plenty of single-location cafes remain as well.
| true_religion wrote:
| Is this to the point that no internet cafes exist?
| tasuki wrote:
| > They have sucked all the air out of the cafe space and
| driven out their competitors.
|
| How?
| delfinom wrote:
| By addicting consumers to coffee flavored sugar I
| suppose?
| ch4s3 wrote:
| I couldn't tell you where the nearest Starbucks is in
| Philly but I can name at least 9 other cafes within a
| short walk.
| shinycode wrote:
| I agree, following the logic means any customer from any
| shop can start doing anything regardless of policies and
| shops just need to adapt just because of my expectations ?
| The-Bus wrote:
| Starbucks Coffee Korea Co. is a Korean company, owned by a
| Singaporean wealth fund and a Korean company. US Starbucks
| provides licensing and supplies, nothing more.
|
| So this is a decision by a Korean company, not an American
| one.
|
| https://stories.starbucks.com/asia/stories/2021/starbucks-
| tr...
| robin_reala wrote:
| There needs to be a resurrection of the Canon NoteJet laptops.
| falcor84 wrote:
| Ooh, yes I want one.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_NoteJet
| shinycode wrote:
| Fire !!!
| criddell wrote:
| Yes, and not only in Korea.
|
| https://laist.com/news/starbucks-swag
| miohtama wrote:
| The solution is to bring back cybercafes, or cafes which were set
| up up to go online. Such culture existed in the 90s but was then
| ended by the widespread online accessibility by home ADSL and
| later mobile internet.
|
| https://www.vice.com/en/article/worlds-first-ever-cyber-cafe...
| bryanhogan wrote:
| South Korea has many pc cafes, so called pc bangs / pcbang, and
| there are also many study cafes where you can work for long
| periods.
| ljf wrote:
| The 'problem' with those for remote workers is that you pay per
| minute/hour in a cybercafe - in a normal coffee shop you can
| just nurse one coffee for hours and pay a single low cost (and
| get a coffee).
|
| I can't remember the name of it now but back in 2010s there was
| an 'OK' managed drop-in office space you could rent for PS10 a
| day in central London - which came with free coffee and
| printing - I haven't looked at the prices lately.
| iainmerrick wrote:
| Wow, I'd be curious about the details if you can remember.
|
| I was working from cafes in London at that time, and I would
| have loved to find a place like that. I had to either use
| actual cafes (free besides getting a coffee and maybe a
| sandwich, limited privacy and security) or pay for a
| dedicated space, generally with too much tedious bureaucracy.
| Maybe I misremember, but to get prices as low as PS10/day I
| think you had to commit to a large number of days per month.
| I don't recall anyone offering low prices a la carte.
| ljf wrote:
| Just looked up my email - and in 2012 I paid PS10 4 hours
| in the Regus shared working space in central London - I
| think a 7 hour day might of been PS12 but I don't have a
| full booking. From memory it was behind Bond Street - I was
| working for a small company in East London, and was taking
| the afternoon off to interview for another role. I wanted
| to be able to work right up until the interview and have
| somewhere to get changed into my suit, so didn't want to
| work from a cafe. I'd seen the offer in various 'business'
| magazines at the time, it wasn't brilliant, and I wouldn't
| have been happy their full time, but it was perfect for the
| day I needed it for.
|
| Prior to that time we had been paying PS330 a month for a
| desk on Dean Street Soho - but that was a monthly rolling
| contract as you say, and we'd just moved to some free space
| in Farringdon, where a friend was letting us use a desk (I
| think in part to make their office look busier).
|
| There was a drop in place in East London that offered
| similar day prices back in 2010, as I went to look around
| it - but it was too noisy for me - was walking distance to
| the Silicon Roundabout - but I can't remember what it was
| called.
| iainmerrick wrote:
| I mostly used the British Library, which was lovely and
| just the right level of quiet. But it gradually got more
| popular -- when I popped in recently, the (expanded)
| working areas were very crowded.
| ljf wrote:
| Nice - I tried libraries and also used friends club
| memberships - but I needed to do a lot of video calls, so
| a place I could talk freely was needed.
|
| A friend of mine seemed to manage to join nice clubs
| early on good terms (and low costs), and ran a mobile
| advertising business for a good few years without ever
| having a proper office space - just working from home
| then the clubs as needed for meetings etc. But his line
| of work seemed rather boozy.
| NuclearPM wrote:
| Boozy?
| ljf wrote:
| Meetings with clients then ended in 'booze' (British
| slang for alcohol/beer/spirts/wine).
| ykonstant wrote:
| Cybercafes are already a big thing in SK, but why is the above
| comment downvoted? I, for one, miss net cafes very much. They
| used to be big in Greece, and I made many many dear friendships
| in small, cozy net cafes.
|
| I can recount hilarious and even heartwarming stories; turns
| out that having a cafe (i.e. leisure space) with computers used
| by people in close proximity makes for dynamics and
| interactions that you cannot recreate with remote connections.
| bryanhogan wrote:
| Having lived in Korea, I have always enjoyed the cafe culture.
| Starbucks there is known for accepting you to work there.
| Although I haven't seen anyone bring a printer yet, some do bring
| extra stuff such as a stand for their laptop that take up a lot
| of space.
|
| The only thing this article mentions is that Starbucks prohibits
| people of bringing stuff that would take up more than a single
| seat, which seems reasonable?
| ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
| I used to travel with a Canon PIXMA printer. Quite portable.
| Could carry a laptop and printer in a small backpack. The paper
| was heavy, though.
| doublerabbit wrote:
| What were you printing that required a print to be carried
| with you?
|
| Personally printing should be banned. The amount of paper
| waste we create disgraceful.
| ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
| I worked for a Japanese company. Paper is a big deal,
| there.
|
| Also, I have long subscribed to Tufte's "supergraphic"
| methodology, when giving presentations.
| seb1204 wrote:
| In which way? Can you elaborate? What type of document
| would you need to print on the go? What for or for whom?
| doublerabbit wrote:
| > I worked for a Japanese company. Paper is a big deal,
| there.
|
| About time they evolved to the next level then.
|
| My point still sticks. Paper waste is a large impact to
| climate change. We shouldn't be using paper anymore, why
| do we proceed to waste such as by printing out email's?
| cryptoz wrote:
| Reminds me of the Improv Everywhere sketch where they did this
| exact thing.
|
| https://youtube.com/watch?v=EKEeHREK2nQ
| paranoidrobot wrote:
| I thought about Improv Everywhere recently - they had some
| great things in the early 2000s.
|
| Re watching this, at about 1:16 one of the agents looks
| familiar. "Huh, she looks kinda like Aubrey Plaza". Then the
| credits come on: It was actually Aubrey Plaza.
| tennisflyi wrote:
| I thought that too!
| tennisflyi wrote:
| 17 years ago - wow!
| jiehong wrote:
| Or maybe Starbucks should install a common printer with a fee?
|
| The large items policy still makes sense, though
| sschueller wrote:
| That will ruin them at $1,500 to $2,000 per litre of ink...
| unglaublich wrote:
| They could provide Starbucks branded ink of which 95% of the
| cost is licensing fees which they pay out tax-free to
| themselves.
| codeulike wrote:
| They could scribble each customers name on the printouts
| with a sharpie
|
| "Got a flat black and white parking ticket appeal form for
| Kim"
| ykonstant wrote:
| - Name?
|
| - Sauron.
|
| - Sharon it is.
| krogenx wrote:
| Maybe they could do some R&D to see if coffee could be used
| as ink.
| londons_explore wrote:
| I just put coffee in my printer to see...
|
| It kinda works, but the printouts are very faint.
|
| I was expecting it to clog immediately (the jets are
| ~10um), but it didn't.
| ctxc wrote:
| Damn. The kind of friends I need in my life.
| dvfjsdhgfv wrote:
| Sorry to bother you but I have so many questions! Like,
| did you actually do it or was it just a middle joke I
| didn't detect? If the former, wasn't you afraid the
| printer won't be usable after that experiment? Didn't
| that worry you? Do you often experiment in this way?
| (Just stopping there to give otherwise the list gets too
| long.)
| londons_explore wrote:
| I have literally hundreds of HP print heads from a
| project, many partly blocked or burned out (they burn if
| you send them the wrong signals, and like 10% of the time
| I hit 'break' on my debugger it burns a few jets out if
| they're firing at the time), and had a coffee sitting
| right next to my desk so thought "why not".
| librasteve wrote:
| yeah, but can you bubble jet maybe a photo onto a flat
| white?
| londons_explore wrote:
| That is a stretch goal of my project, but right now I
| wouldn't be confident I have a method to flush out the
| OEM and probably toxic ink.
| FredPret wrote:
| This is incredible - you should write a blog about it. I
| want to see what that printout looks like!
| londons_explore wrote:
| When the main project is done, there'll be a blog post
| and the coffee test will make an appearance!
| FredPret wrote:
| I'm also super curious what one might get up to with that
| many print heads, so maybe there's two posts in there!
| JKCalhoun wrote:
| I'm not surprised if you used the Breakfast Blend. Did
| you try the Caffe Verona or Espresso Roast?
| londons_explore wrote:
| It was Lidl's red topped instant - don't even know the
| name - the jar with the red lid, and I made it pretty
| strong but without milk/sugar (which I thought would
| cook/burn onto the inside of the nozzle)
| thepryz wrote:
| That's my printer recommends Bulletproof Coffee. The
| coconut oil helps ensure smooth flow without clogging
| while the MCTs improve coffee adhesion to the paper.
| cm2187 wrote:
| Is that a business they even want, someone occupying a seat for
| 8 hours only to consume two coffees?
| PaulRobinson wrote:
| They'd rather that than an empty seat, especially if that
| person is turning up 5-6 days/week.
|
| Most coffee shops where I live (London, UK, specifically out
| in West London) are at best 20% full through most of the day,
| that's a lot of dead real estate not paying for itself.
|
| When I tried working out of coffee shops a bit some years ago
| the "etiquette" seemed to be ~1 drink/hour to pay for your
| seat. I don't like coffee that much, so was consuming more
| like 0.66/hour (i.e. around 2 drinks every 3 hours), and
| people were fine with that, as it was effectively a rent
| payment of PS20/day, or PS100/week, which is a little under
| what a hotdesk would cost me in the same area but with a lot
| more flexibility (never pay for idle!), and of course its
| good margin sales for them.
|
| Of course, they could just say "no laptops". There's a pub
| chain in the UK that did that (Sam Smith's - no screens, no
| swearing), but the rule is not widely followed or enforced
| and where it is the pubs are empty far more than the ones
| that welcome customers.
| victorbjorklund wrote:
| Obviously some coffee shops are gonna want that but some
| coffee shops are making all their money by selling to
| customers during short periods in the morning, lunch and
| maybe in the afternoon and if this person is sitting there
| blocking the chair that could be used by many customers
| during the time the total of two cups of coffee will be
| less than what they are losing from not being able to serve
| those customers. Of course for some coffee shops they are
| never full and they probably benefit from this and they
| would love to have those type of customers.
| gambiting wrote:
| >> but the rule is not widely followed or enforced and
| where it is the pubs are empty far more than the ones that
| welcome customers.
|
| I mean, I went to one in SOHO and it was packed and indeed,
| no one was on their phone and people were being actively
| told off if they used a phone. That was nice. The fact that
| I paid PS9 for a pint was much less nice though.
| terribleperson wrote:
| I believe there was an HN article recently about a business
| that provides a service to cafes to formalize that rent
| agreement. Spend a certain amount (e.g. 8 euros every 3
| hours) or you lose wifi access.
| tr81 wrote:
| Customers attract customers. Even if some customers are not
| spending a lot of money, they bring in other customers who
| more than make up for them. This is the reason why so many
| coffee shops go out of their way to provide power outlets
| near every table.
| MetaWhirledPeas wrote:
| They want people, but I think a printer crosses the line.
| It's a Starbucks not a Kinko's.
| whstl wrote:
| It's even worse, I don't think you can bring your own
| printer to a Kinko's.
| aianus wrote:
| When I worked out of free co-working spaces in Asia I would
| buy lunch and breakfast from them too, both to socialize with
| other patrons and to not lose my seat.
| ericcumbee wrote:
| I work from a coffee shop a good bit. They don't care for the
| most part. Assuming you tip reasonably, be nice to the staff,
| don't be annoying, don't negatively impact the other
| customers, be helpful when the occasion calls for it.
| pengaru wrote:
| I presume it's highly subjective.
|
| For a busy cafe that's always short on seating and struggles
| to keep up with fulfilling orders, they want nothing to do
| with laptop squatters.
|
| Every other case I imagine it's desirable to have at least
| some regulars presumably employed enough to be working from a
| cafe using modern tech.
|
| One common problem I've noticed is van lifers and other quasi
| homeless folks spending ~zero money stinking up the place
| just for the free power and internet.
|
| Now that battery life and cell-tethered internet is so good,
| some of my favorite urban cafes have adopted a no-outlets no-
| wifi approach, while still having tons of seating and
| allowing folks to be present with their computers all day.
| They just have to provide their own internet and power, which
| serves to exclude the true parasites while selecting for
| folks with $$ to spend because they have state of the art
| gadgets with their own unlimited data plans.
| sandspar wrote:
| It's hard to run a global business. Different people have such
| different ways of doing things. Every day, tens of millions of
| people run pen tests on Starbuck's rules. And Starbuck's front
| line of defence? A bunch of shy college student baristas.
| thrown-0825 wrote:
| Most of those people arent in college, especially outside the
| US.
| dominicrose wrote:
| Why would anyone except a gamer buy a desktop computer anyway. I
| guess some people still have their old computer and a lot of
| south korenas are gamers, but laptops are just better overall
| because of the portability. If people bring printerS pural then
| starbuck could "just" have a free-ish printer
| littlestymaar wrote:
| Anyone who doesn't need to work while traveling actually.
|
| A desktop is both cheaper (at the same spec), while being much
| more durable due to being upgradable and reparable.
|
| Sure laptop win in terms of portability, but since we can do so
| much on our phone, I don't really feel the need to bring a
| computer with me everywhere.
| 01HNNWZ0MV43FF wrote:
| They used to be cheaper. Might still be?
|
| I've had mine about ten years and it's still on the original
| CPU and mobo and PSU I think. I've probably saved a few hundred
| bucks from not buying another whole computer. It might not be
| as fast as a new laptop but it has more RAM and storage than
| most.
|
| If I want to go into LLM stuff I will buy a newish used GPU for
| it. If the CPU is a bottleneck then I'll get a new mobo but I
| won't need a new chassis or PSU maybe ever. And the hard drives
| just rotate as I buy bigger ones
| okasaki wrote:
| Laptops are terrible -
|
| - Too small
|
| - too loud
|
| - too hot
|
| - too few ports
|
| - fake performance (good luck with your 105W "5090")
|
| - OS confusion about active screen, keyboard and mouse (how
| many times have I experienced that only the built-in keyboard
| works during booting, or the OS showing the login screen on
| only the built-in screen),
|
| - most of them have to be open or have ports in awkward places,
| and take up space comparable to a desktop.
| iainmerrick wrote:
| Everyone has different needs. A lot of us get by very nicely
| with a good laptop and a big monitor (or two). Very few
| moving parts to keep track of, and you can be productive both
| home and away.
| senko wrote:
| > Why would anyone except a gamer buy a desktop computer
| anyway?
|
| Because you get a beast of a machine for the price of MacBook
| Air, and because you prefer looking at a big ultrawide monitor
| instead of alt-tabbing like crazy on a 13" screen, and you
| prefer a full keyboard and a proper mouse to the cramped layout
| they stuff in laptops because there's no room.
|
| Oh, and maybe a proper sound system.
|
| And it can also double as a NAS (more physical space for
| storage) and home server.
|
| Not everyone needs portability all the time. For when I do, I
| have a Thinkpad I can get by with, with Tailscale VPN so it has
| access to the workstation.
|
| (for anyone curios, yes, it's still cheaper than top-of-the-
| line laptop + nas/home server combo, but my main reason is
| ergonomics).
| boonzeet wrote:
| > it can also double as a NAS ... and home server
|
| Devil's advocate, but it can't if it's in Starbucks ;)
|
| There's far cheaper workstations out there than Macbooks,
| especially if you're running Linux on them.
| senko wrote:
| I ain't lugging that setup around :)
|
| I have a VPN so all its resources _are_ available in a
| Starbucks via ssh and /or RDP.
|
| This one was a custom build with maxed ram, heaps of
| storage, a modest Nvidia card with as much VRAM as possible
| without breaking the bank, etc.. stuff I personally needed.
| A cheap workstation (or a much more expensive Mac) won't
| have that exact combo.
|
| So aside from ergonomics, it's also customizability to my
| idiosyncratic wants and needs.
| edgineer wrote:
| External monitor, keyboard, mouse, sound, stuck in closet and
| used as a NAS... I do all these with laptops just as much as
| with desktops.
|
| Laptop price disadvantage can even flip when buying used due
| to cheaper shipping.
|
| Laptops can't hold as many internal devices nor the fastest
| parts and have worse thermals/sound though.
| ahartmetz wrote:
| Show me that quiet, 16 core, 5 GHz, 128 GB RAM laptop that's
| actually pretty cheap, too.
|
| I do need the CPU performance, that computer is used to compile
| C++ code. The RAM is for local LLMs - not fast enough to be
| practical most of the time tbh, but I like to experiment
| anyway.
| xenospn wrote:
| Keep that beast humming at home and get a cheap MacBook Air
| to use ssh at the coffee shop.
| ahartmetz wrote:
| Thinkpad with Linux and it's got 8 cores as well (thanks
| AMD!) because remote development isn't great for what I'm
| doing and how fast a connection I can rely on.
| nicoburns wrote:
| The MacBook Pro with M4 Max will give you 16 cores (12 of
| which run at 4.5Ghz) and 128GB of RAM, and will likely pretty
| closely match the speed of the desktop processor for
| compiling C++ (at least we've done benchmarking of rustc in
| /r/rust the top-spec Apple chips somehow match top-spec x86
| chips).
|
| It certainly won't be cheap though!
| ryao wrote:
| An AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 should do that.
| layer8 wrote:
| If you don't need the portability, desktops are strictly
| better.
| jwr wrote:
| In Tokyo, coffee shops seem to have embraced the work culture.
| Tables and seating have been adapted to working, and you often
| get a receipt with the time when you are expected to leave
| printed on it. Most (if not all) people in a Tully's in Tokyo are
| there to work.
| kalleboo wrote:
| Even McDonalds has seats with power outlets, I mostly see
| groups of students studying rather than people working.
| eswat wrote:
| Seoul is similar. Many Twosome Places have study desks and some
| of the chains known for small footprint also have bigger
| locations for meetings and work (Ediya Coffee Lab).
|
| I never understood why people who are frugal would go to
| Starbucks in Korea to work, when local chains are beside them,
| have cheaper drinks and their desk/chair setups are less
| hostile to working.
| apt-apt-apt-apt wrote:
| I saw a guy (in america) charge his e-bike battery once at
| Starbucks. GPT estimates a full recharge to be around 30 cents.
| daemonologist wrote:
| Hah, probably comparable to running a desktop for an equivalent
| amount of time - most ebike chargers are 100 - 200 W, and the
| bikes usually have a battery between 0.5 - 1 kWh (which in my
| area would be 5 - 10 cents). Less disruptive though, assuming
| they detached the battery and left the bike outside.
| mk_stjames wrote:
| >GPT estimates (...)
|
| Dude it's middle school math. Average pedal assist e-bike
| battery, estimate at 500 watt-hours. Electricity prices at my
| home are about 20 cents per kilowatt-hour.
|
| (0.5 kwhr) * (20 cents/kwhr) = 10 cents. With an additional
| 10-15% due to charging system inefficiencies (lost to heat). 11
| cents.
|
| It can be good exercise to do an 8th grade level word problem
| every now and then.
| ViktorRay wrote:
| The actual arithmetic is easy but most people don't know
| about the batteries in e-bikes. They might not know about the
| electricity prices at the top of their heads either.
|
| You could google those...but it seems easier to just use GPT
| if you're going to google that stuff anyway.
| mk_stjames wrote:
| Well considering the GPT reported '30 cents' a charge, it
| is either a. considering 3x larger battery than I would
| consider average e-bike sized (and I got my 500Wh number
| based on a 10-second google scan), b. price of electricity
| it is considering is 3x higher (highly doubt it) or c. it
| is imagining that modern lithium ion charging efficiencies
| wall-to-battery are way, way worse than they actually are
| (possible to hallucinate and integrate into its
| calculation).
|
| Either way, we don't know, and the original commenter
| doesn't know either, because they didn't google anything
| about e-bike battery sizes or their local electricity
| prices and thus didn't take the opportunity to actually
| learn something.
| rich_sasha wrote:
| Cafes provide two distinct products, usually bundled into one:
| seat rental and food/drink.
|
| How about charge separately for each? I get that it would be
| awkward to try, but why not.
| stby wrote:
| Newer Coworking places generally seem to have some Starbucks-
| vibes, but AFAIK they are not doing to well.
|
| Maybe the price of a coffee is exactly what people are willing
| to pay for a seat, a small table, and wifi for some hours.
| mathiaspoint wrote:
| I haven't seen a coworking place that isn't insanely
| overpriced compared to a coffee shop so it's no surprise
| they're not doing well.
| mhitza wrote:
| In my experience price isn't the only issue. One of the
| (smaller) coworking spaces I can have access to locally,
| closes at 6pm while a coffee shop at around 9-10PM and it's
| also open on weekends.
|
| But then again, I find working in coffee shops too
| distracting, so work from home and randomly popping into a
| coworking space now and then.
| mantra2 wrote:
| Little overpriced but I've found Loop Earplugs to help
| working in coffee shops, etc. Muffles out most of the
| sound but not everything, enough to focus but not fly off
| your seat if someone taps your shoulder.
| john01dav wrote:
| What's the purpose of doing this over working at home
| where this problem doesn't exist?
| victorbjorklund wrote:
| Yeah, but isn't the question whether the co-working place
| is overpriced or if the coffee shop is underpriced or maybe
| both?
| Mistletoe wrote:
| Imagine if a little critical thinking like this had been
| allowed to enter the minds of WeWork investors.
| NuclearPM wrote:
| Companies pay more than coffee prices for offices
| currency wrote:
| Coworking spaces need to colocate with services. Starbucks,
| Fedex Kinkos, massage chairs....
| sersi wrote:
| I tried wework. The seats were unbelievably uncomfortable.
| For the low-low price of $500 usd to get a hot seat, it's
| just much worse than coffeeshops.
| wodenokoto wrote:
| Japanese Manga Cafes / Internet Cafes give you all you can
| drink coffee and tea for hourly pricing, and usually comes with
| a PC and a private booth. I'm not sure how much of a thing they
| still are though, but they were big in the 2000s and early 10s
| mvdwoord wrote:
| This is what we had all over the world (...) when Internet
| Cafes were a thing. Perhaps they should come back?
| johnisgood wrote:
| Most developers could not really do their own thing on a
| PC/laptop that is not theirs.
|
| Are they supposed to set up their development environment
| each time?
| mvdwoord wrote:
| You could still bring your laptop? Swap out the HDMI if
| you want to use the monitor...
| Yizahi wrote:
| For work oriented cafe, owners can partner with
| Teamviewer, license seats from it and then advertise this
| as a fast remote service. Iirc teamviewer requires
| payment only for host machine, clients can be free.
| Though I imagine the market for such setup would be
| extremely small and unprofitable.
| actionfromafar wrote:
| Clearly StarBucks should rent out StarBucks branded
| developer machines in the cloud, which you can access
| from home or from StarBucks terminals.
| ericcumbee wrote:
| only for JAVA
| nicce wrote:
| Seems overly complicated when you could just give a plug
| for charger and let them use their own laptops.
| pvtmert wrote:
| devcontainers & github codespaces may help, but i agree
| with you, each day, i would spend just setting up my
| stuff, to start from scratch on the next day!
| nicoburns wrote:
| The "Santander Work Cafes"
| (https://www.santanderbank.com/workcafe/cafe) are an
| excellent implementation of this.
| rich_sasha wrote:
| How interesting - so the other extreme. 0 cost on drinks,
| 100% time in seat cost.
| mrtksn wrote:
| Or have actual public places? The Cafe's are there to serve
| coffee, it's just courtesy as business model to let you hang
| around in the premises and when the business model starts to
| fail in some way they adjust it.
|
| After university, the most I miss is the actual places that are
| mine to use and are made for hanging around or working and not
| necessarily consuming anything.
| cmavvv wrote:
| > The Cafe's are there to serve coffee, it's just courtesy as
| business model to let you hang around
|
| Traditionally it's the other way around, the drink is a by-
| product of a public house where people can gather. Could you
| imagine a bar where people are just supposed to drink and
| leave?
| mrtksn wrote:
| How does this work? Were these public houses literally
| owned by the public and someone noticed that they may sell
| something there? AFAIK it's more like people opening their
| premises to outsiders to hang around and sell them stuff.
| rrrrrrrrrrrryan wrote:
| Yes - to enter most houses you needed to be a member of
| the club, or know the owner, have an invitation, etc.
|
| Some houses were open to the public ("public houses,"
| "pubs") where anyone could walk in and grab a drink and a
| bite, and usually even a bed for the night.
| NuclearPM wrote:
| > Could you imagine a bar where people are just supposed to
| drink and leave?
|
| Yes.
| sandworm101 wrote:
| > can you imagine a bar where people are just supposed to
| drink and leave?
|
| That is what a "bar" was invented to do. In the old public
| house, patrons would remain seated and the alcohol was
| brought to them. A heavy drinker would drink until they
| couldnt walk, but would still occupy a chair. Then the
| "bar" was invented. Patrons now come to the alcohol and
| will generally depart before becoming legless. A single
| bartender can now dish out far more alcohol per hour than
| any table server. That didnt exist as a concept until a
| couple hundred years ago.
|
| Proper sushi "bars" follow the same pattern. You eat solo,
| often with curtains between individual patrons. You eat
| fast. Then you leave. You dont hang around for a chat.
| onlyrealcuzzo wrote:
| > After university, the most I miss is the actual places that
| are mine to use and are made for hanging around or working
| and not necessarily consuming anything.
|
| You just pre-paid for the consumption in your tuition fees.
| mrtksn wrote:
| Well, then it was a great deal. Significantly better than
| what I'm getting for renting a table with a coffee for hour
| or two for $5.
| gretch wrote:
| > Well, then it was a great deal
|
| You can go back to university.
| mrtksn wrote:
| that's totally among my retirement plans :)
| codedokode wrote:
| You can go as a lecturer in which case they might even
| pay you.
| pvtmert wrote:
| outside of USA, i do not think that's true,
|
| given the OP nickname is mrtksn, I presume he is a Turkish
| person. There are many public (ie. govt. funded)
| universities in Turkey. Except various touristic places in
| Istanbul, it would also be possible to "hangout" for an
| hour in many of smaller cities. Obviously this is degrading
| as the cities are getting more crowded. Although, most
| shopping malls having food-court with a "public" area. (ie.
| An area that belongs to none of the food places, but the
| shopping mall itself) You could just coast there from 10am
| in the morning until 10pm in the evening, with free-wifi
| and no drinks.
|
| Similarly, in Europe, some coffee shops kind of span to the
| street benches or the window-side seating. For the window-
| side (outside), you may not be able to sit there for an
| hour or so, but definitely coastable about 30 minutes. (ie
| waiting for someone). Meanwhile, public areas are always
| free-for-all, if the WIFI works, then for sure you can
| coast all day...
| kmfrk wrote:
| Last week's submission is a company created to do this, too:
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44811602.
|
| https://badgeapp.co.
| xg15 wrote:
| At this point I wonder why Starbucks hasn't diversified and
| started building actual coworking spaces in addition to coffee
| shops. They look like they should be in an ideal position for
| that.
| eqvinox wrote:
| They'd have to charge people for using those, which people
| won't be eager to. The point of coffee shops in this regard is
| that the use as _free_ coworking space is "parasitic" on the
| space being financed by the cafe business.
| MetaWhirledPeas wrote:
| I wonder how often they try _large_ floor plans. Most
| Starbucks I see try to keep things small. What happens if you
| make it a bit larger, like a small library? I wonder if the
| increase in foot traffic and sales would offset the cost of
| extra real estate. They could keep it free, but also somewhat
| cross over into coworking.
| rcpt wrote:
| It's like parking, if it's free people will take all of it
| quickly
| bluedino wrote:
| That's a Barnes and Noble
|
| _proudly serving Starbucks coffee_
| pvtmert wrote:
| simply, even cleaning and keeping it tidy is a quadratic
| equation compared to the space available. people leave
| their garbage behind or spill their coffee, making a single
| table somewhat unusable for some time. there are already
| min. number of employees, mostly busy at the bar. having
| extra space equals requiring more hands for cleaning, hence
| cost not linearly increasing but quadratic with the square
| meter.
|
| another thing is, if the space gets full, people get out
| anyway, but chance to buy stuff.
|
| for example, let's see there are 2 empty tables right now,
| you get in to the line, there are 6 people in the queue.
| imagine 3 of them somewhat occupies the those 2 empty
| tables, even if you resign the idea of getting coffee, i
| guarantee you that at least 1 of the other 2 would still
| get coffee but just move to a nearby park or bench. which
| starbucks obviously does not pay the rent for...
| willsmith72 wrote:
| (as long as the campers are considerate) it's also low cost.
| even prime location starbucks have large lull periods through
| the day, prime for campers, even though only spending $5-10.
|
| when people feel entitled to take up 2 spaces for hours while
| families roam for seats is when it's too far
| HSO wrote:
| they could integrate it with their loyalty points system,
| whatever it was called, starbucks card or sth
|
| either pay with points, or get a cheaper rate for points, or
| even get points if you pay normal for the cowirking space
|
| the card could also double as a validator, either for the
| reserved space or as a key card to a closed one, saving on
| in-store admin work
|
| if i were starbucks, i would 100% try this
|
| clearly there is a demand for quick and informal working
| space, instead of a formal, multi month tenant agreement with
| one limited provider
|
| just go to any store location, and in case of need, pay an
| hourly rate with your coffee to get a seat
| HSO wrote:
| PS. they could even apply surge pricing for this. in fact
| they _should_.
| eqvinox wrote:
| I was about to make that joke-not-joke, but you beat me
| to it.
| freedomben wrote:
| If they can get Coca Cola to bring back Surge[1], I will
| happily pay for Surge pricing
|
| [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surge_(drink)
| jerlam wrote:
| There was a thread about this exact situation a week ago:
|
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44811602
| pvtmert wrote:
| not trying to be sarcastic but;
|
| > if i were starbucks, i would 100% try this
|
| which is why you _are_ not starbucks
|
| --
|
| imagine the multitude of laws and regulations in multitude
| of countries, if you offer co-working space, then you must
| also register as a landlord, handle mails (not the
| electronic ones, physical mails), business registrations,
| etc.
|
| there will be people who would want to stay in after-hours,
| even if the store is not open. obviously they are paying
| the rent, hence they have the right to do so.
|
| people will reserve tables/seats, what happens if it's
| over-booked? there are certain "cool" locations which are
| extremely busy hot-spots meanwhile others are pretty
| chill...
| reaperducer wrote:
| _The point of coffee shops in this regard is that the use as
| free coworking space_
|
| Incidentally, back when I was doing startups, there were free
| coworking spaces in the under-utilized portions of the
| Seattle convention center. Big, squishy chairs, fast wifi,
| and power ports galore.
|
| It was like a self-service micro tech incubator, and helped
| me bootstrap a company that lasted over a decade. The State
| of Washington more than got its money back in taxes.
| tmm wrote:
| This one[1] has a meeting space that can be closed off from the
| rest of the store, with a TV or projector, and I'm pretty sure
| they've got a copier or at least an all-in-one printer.
|
| [1] https://maps.app.goo.gl/47RMhPAGNHXSnED9A
| pm90 wrote:
| Ive seen some coffee shops do this, where part of the space is
| a "coworking area".
|
| I imagine it requires a bit more capital investment and
| knowhow; I get the feeling that franchisees don't have a lot of
| freedom.
|
| Some Korean coffee shops should try this though!
| Simulacra wrote:
| If there's no cost, people will take advantage of it.
| mromanuk wrote:
| They did build something people want, why are they rejecting it
| now?
| bdcravens wrote:
| Making something people want isn't enough, unless they want to
| start paying their employees and leases with smiles.
| samschooler wrote:
| There is a photo in the Korea Herald article linked in op's
| article. https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10550038
| mock-possum wrote:
| Bizzare entitlement
| testing22321 wrote:
| People wishing they had a public place they could spend time
| is entitlement now?
|
| A generation ago it was extremely widespread and taken for
| granted, now we've lost our "third places"
| urbandw311er wrote:
| I think it's quite a stretch for you to interpret the
| parent comment like that. Surely they're referring to
| people's entitled behaviour in this private space.
| ge96 wrote:
| wonder if you can bring a tent inside and camp
| petcat wrote:
| I understand it's tongue-in-cheek, but you're actually
| describing a real problem Starbucks and other casual-style
| restaurants (McDonalds) have in Seattle. The downtown
| business districts are almost completely overrun by
| homelessness and many places in the area have stopped
| offering seating and only offer counter pick-up and standing
| tables/rails.
| dismalaf wrote:
| Homeless people do it all the time in certain cities. And
| because judges won't jail them for crimes police have stopped
| trying.
| codedokode wrote:
| Interesting. Can a tourist set up a tent in New York City
| in order to not pay ridiculous hotel fees or this is
| allowed only to citizens?
| pm90 wrote:
| How will jailing them help? Now the public is on the hook
| for them. Plus, more jails will be needed if you wanna move
| all the unhoused in there.
|
| Maybe its easier just to build more housing.
| wkat4242 wrote:
| They're not the kind of people that can afford housing
| nor the kind that are able to get a rental contract in
| the first place. And if they had money they'd just shoot
| up more. Not trying to diss them but that's just reality.
|
| There's very few people homeless because they can't
| afford it even despite the insane rent prices. Usually
| it's a ton of untreated mental issues and/or drug
| addiction.
|
| Building more houses will help regular people a ton but
| not the homeless. More shelters will. Good and affordable
| mental healthcare too. But that's "communism" so I guess
| that won't fly in MAGA America.
| rcpt wrote:
| Imagine you can get up to the bathroom and nobody steals your
| monitor
| codedokode wrote:
| The words "steal" and "bathroom" reminded me of a funny case
| when hand dryers started disappearing in bathrooms of several
| shopping malls in a large Russian city. In all cases, there
| was the same person with a large bag filmed nearby, but as
| there is no camera inside, it is difficult to understand if
| he did anything or not. Guess unsupervised tablet (aka
| "monitor") would not stay there for long.
| petre wrote:
| Well, Russians stole washing machines from Ukraine, of
| course they also steal other smaller appliances as well.
| reaperducer wrote:
| Reminds me a bit of when TPUG in Toronto used to set up entire
| Commodore PET rigs in coffee shops.
|
| For reference, a Commodore PET weighs about 25 pounds, and is
| the size of a toilet bowl.
|
| Double all that if you want to use a floppy disk.
| mcculley wrote:
| Having used a Commdore PET, I cannot stop laughing at this
| size comparison.
|
| It reminds of the observation that some people will go to
| great lengths to avoid the metric system.
| kzrdude wrote:
| That must be a tablet made to look like a desktop setup right?
| Arnavion wrote:
| Could be a monitor with a mini PC on the back.
| royskee wrote:
| OMG someone brought in a cubicle
| amelius wrote:
| Are 3d printers allowed?
|
| How about a soldering station?
|
| Or a desktop scanning electron microscope?
| JKCalhoun wrote:
| I have a water cooler ... on wheels. Yes? No?
| postalcoder wrote:
| Amusingly, those are all available at a cafe i've frequented in
| Seoul.
|
| They're used as background dressing but they're also available
| to use. It's criminally underused and i'd love to do it but i
| have no idea what i would make with it.
| function_seven wrote:
| All of those sound more reasonable than my Model M keyboard.
| seizethecheese wrote:
| I have soldered in a Starbucks before.
| jdblair wrote:
| In 2014, in a Starbucks in Los Gatos, CA, I saw someone bring in
| a (small) desktop PC and a monitor and set it up at a table.
| selimthegrim wrote:
| My roommate claims she saw the same in the Valley (in Sherman
| Oaks/VN in LA) in 2019
| ericcumbee wrote:
| I've seen that as well a few times.
| Nifty3929 wrote:
| Free, common-use things are awesome - until the tragedy of the
| commons sets in and ruins it for everybody. This is true of so
| many things that start free and then later require payment. And
| everybody gets mad about it.
| stockresearcher wrote:
| Chicago has "residential zone parking" for the areas of the
| city that are primarily residential. For $30 per year per car,
| you get to park on the street in your local zone (2-3 city
| blocks). Nobody else is allowed to park on the street in that
| zone. For visitors, you can buy a sheet of stickers for $1 per
| sticker that enable 1 day of parking. But you can't buy more
| than 3 sheets in a month (they keep track).
|
| I've always wondered why NYC and other big cities don't do
| this. It costs so little, yet makes it much easier to park
| where you live.
| kjkjadksj wrote:
| Residents love these policies but local businesses tend to
| hate them.
| stockresearcher wrote:
| Business zones (IE arterial streets) use metered parking
| paxys wrote:
| Density. If you paid for a parking permit then there's some
| expectation that a parking spot will be available for you
| near your house. Except in NYC residents outnumber parking
| spots 20:1 in some neighborhoods.
| throwaway-blaze wrote:
| Seattle has this. 2hr parking if you dont have an residential
| parking zone registration for your car (it's based on license
| plate).
|
| Surprisingly they charge $190/yr per car for this.
| _aavaa_ wrote:
| Except a space owned by corporation is not a commons. It's not
| free and not controlled by the people who use it.
|
| It is designed and completely controlled by a for profit
| corporation for the purpose of making profit.
| pengaru wrote:
| aww shucks, there goes my plan to pack my Threadripper into a 90s
| vintage Dolch "portable computer" housing and let Starbucks pay
| the power bills.
| amadeuspagel wrote:
| People shouldn't have to bring a desktop computer, they should
| already have one there.
| PeterStuer wrote:
| If this is such a pervasive problem you'd think the article would
| have had no problem sourcing a photo of this instead of some
| generic phone ogling group?
| MeIam wrote:
| Printers?! Desktop?! They need to wheel the stuff in. Hilarious
| how far people go to save a few bucks.
| kazinator wrote:
| > _Starbucks South Korea implemented a policy asking patrons to
| not bring bulky items like desktop computers and printers into
| stores._
|
| .. says the caption under a Getty image which shows no such
| thing! No wonder people don 't respect the media.
|
| The only reason I would click on this sort of thing would be to
| see a video or image of Koreans bringing their desktops and
| printers to a Starbucks and setting them up.
|
| Without that, I can imagine it just fine without relying on any
| words in the article.
|
| Searching YouTube, I'm not able to find any videos footage of
| people with desktops that they brought to a Starbucks in South
| Korea. The story is circulating and there are various new stories
| in various languages from various news networks, but all have
| only generic footage unrelated to the story.
|
| I found this 17-year-old prank video (not Koreans):
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKEeHREK2nQ
|
| One 7-year-old video (likewise):
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBRkRZzCeTo
|
| Ho-hum content. They brought a computer, set it up and sat down.
|
| I'm guessing this Korea thing was probably a very small number of
| people in specific locations (possibly pranksters) and not a
| national trend.
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2025-08-12 23:01 UTC)