Coffee Shop with Wireless - Telecenters for Artists

It's no secret that I'm not a big fan of Starbucks. I'm more interested in supporting local economies - and artists. After all, I have been going to coffee shops for quite a while, and this was before technology was as rampant as it is now.

There's something appealing about a coffee shop that goes beyond coffee. Coffee shops are supposed to have character, and characters. That said, the problem of coffee shops is that it's hard to make a profit. It's more than just making coffee.

It's a social thing. People come here to discuss things, to look at art and on some nights to hear people perform. I've read poetry at more than one 'Open Mic', and it's cool to have creative people hanging out together. Sometimes you get the bad performers, but that's par for the course.

Wireless internet access has long been the domain of large corporate chains of coffee shops - but these coffee shops don't have the creative folks as much as they have the people who like the name brand recognition. Folks, go to a real coffee shop. You'll fit in. Everyone else does. And you'll be supporting your local economy while meeting real people in your area.

At least try it once. The odds are good that if you don't like them, they won't like you. :-)

So a coffee shop with wireless is a telecenter. And there are coffee shops with wireless that are in the U.S. - and aren't the corporate places where people don't talk to each other.

Where do you think the term Cybercafe came from? I'll give you a hint. It wasn't Starbucks.