But for some of the others, especially the chains, it makes sense to let computers in. I’ve thought about this a fair bit–if I park myself at a Starbucks (which gives me 2 hours of wifi) I end up often starting off by buying a $4 drink. Then if I am there long enough, I get hungry and buy a $5 sandwich and another drink. And then later I will buy at least one other coffee. If I get past my 2 hours of wifi, I buy a months’ worth of wifi access (not sure if they get a cut of that). Not only are they getting at least $12-15 for a 4 hour stay from me, but also they are preventing me from going to a competitor. I build up a loyalty, so that even if I am not there to use the wifi, that is still where I will go.

In my neighbourhood coffee shop ( another of the chains) gets a lot of social visitors–families, groups of retirees, knitting circles– that buy a $2 coffee at most and then sit for 3 hours at a time chatting. I’m not sure the students, writers, and consultants working with the computers are any less desirable.