Coffee Shop Zombies

No, not the latest in the "Zombies" movie franchise but, rather, the new new thing as reported in the May 30 Financial Times by Simon London.

Turns out an apparent critical mass of people now sit forever in coffee shops and use the free high–speed wireless internet access.

They buy nothing, just sit there.

Like zombies, almost.

Hence the term.

I find it interesting, the different takes on the problem offered by different business owners: some are turning off the Wi–Fi on weekends and evenings; others wouldn't dream of it.

Here's London's story as carried by MSN.com.

Wake Up and Smell the Coffee, Wi-Fi Users

Coffee shops across the US are finding that offering free wireless internet access to customers is leaving a bitter taste.



"There are times when 90 per cent of the people in here are surfing the internet," says Jen Strongin, co-owner of the Victrola Coffee & Art cafe in Seattle. "It has really changed the atmosphere."

Students of coffee-house culture call it the "zombie effect" — people staring silently into their computers, oblivious to those around them.

Zombies are not only anti-social but also bad business.

A single laptop user can take up a whole table.



It is not unusual for web surfers to eke out a single cup of coffee for hours.

"We have people in here for six, even eight, hours without buying a thing," says Ms. Strongin.

Her solution is simple: from now on the wi-fi network will be turned off at weekends, the Victrola's busiest days.

The Canvas Cafe in San Francisco has taken the same step, restricting wi-fi access to weekdays.

The upmarket Samovar Tea Lounge, also in San Francisco, turns its service off at 5pm each day to prevent "zombies" from crowding out early-evening diners.



An alternative is to charge customers for wi-fi.

But small cafes recognise that free internet access is an important weapon in the battle against Starbucks, which offers pay-as-you-go wi-fi in 3,500 of its coffee houses.

Activists at the Boston Wireless Advocacy Group hope to head off a wi-fi backlash by encouraging coffee house owners to display wi-fi etiquette posters.

Top tips include: "Make purchases and tip"; "If it's busy don't overstay your welcome"; and "Share a table."



Besides, some customers are more attached than others to ubiquitous internet access.

At Buck's Diner in Woodside, California, a favourite haunt of Silicon Valley venture capitalists, the free wi-fi service is on all day, every day.

The high-tech clientele expect nothing less.

In nearby Portola Valley, the Konditorei cafe - immortalised five years ago by tech industry entrepreneur Randy Komisar in his book "The Monk and The Riddle" - follows the same zombie-friendly policy.



Armando, manger of the Konditorei café in Portola Valley, advises: "Wi-fi etiquette? Keep using it until we kick you out."