Late last week, Roger Saner (our web uber-maester) and myself were meeting at a Coffee Shop to work through some web design issues. As we sat there, a woman who was meeting with a friend came over to us and said she was doing a feature on “The Third Space” – people who did work in coffee shops (not at home, or at an office), and asked us a few questions about what we were doing and why here, etc.
We have some experience in coffee shop culture – most people in TomorrowToday know which shops at every airport and in most shopping centres provide support for workers like ourselves. Click here to see one of Barrie’s experiences a few months ago.
I gave her my card, and it turns out she’s in the middle of reading my book, and wanted me to give her a more formal quote on the coffee shop culture we work in. If you’re interested, here is what I sent her.
With the growing number of people who consider themselves to be knowledge workers, self-employed, home-based and/or independent contractors (even if they are employed) it is no surprise that new working spaces are emerging. Homes are a common working place now, even for people employed at corporates, but homes are not always good places to focus or to meet with clients and associates. Coffee shops have increasingly become meeting places – not just for friends and casual conversation, but also for important business consultations. Many provide support for the mobile office, including providing power supplies for laptops, hotspot internet access and larger tables to accommodate papers, laptops and a latte mug all at the same time.
The Third Space
Viva the wireless web Viva. As someone who travels and who agrees that work is something you do and not a place you go to, the wireless revolution cannot come quickly enough. However, with SA’s current quagmire of red tape, bureaucracy, nepotism and Telkom it seems we may have to wait a while.
But I am tired of waiting as I am sure many of you are. That is why I have a radical proposal. Some of you may or may not know this, but Wimax is alive and being tested in SA. IMHO (In my humble opinion) this is the technolgy we have all been waiting for. Imagine 70 mbps being pumped down to your laptop, wherever you are in the country and I mean anywhere. In the berg, on camps bay beach, in your home, at your office, at your favourite coffee shop, literally anywhere. Well, I have been chatting to some guys who have brought this technology into SA and are testing it. I am interested because I have a dream/vision/mission/passion to see everyone getting access to the internet and seeing them grow as a result. There are huge initiatives overseas that are working on building a $100 laptop, which will enable most people to afford one and if you link that with Wimax technology, Boom, you have the exponential growth of the prepaid cellular market. Ok, enough rambling, my idea is this.
Telkom wont allow anyone to put up a network or even a base station as they are petrified that people will move away from their monopolistic service. This means that only they are currently allowed to test and play with this technology. I have a somewhat different view. I say we, as the market, should “club” together and put up some base stations and get this thing off the ground. Yes it may be illegal, but we have to force the hand of Icasa and more importantly Telkom. They simply cannot be allowed to continue like this. If we get it right, we will have literally hundreds of people on the service in a matter of days. The idea is to bring the technology in under the radar, create a groundswell and then force Telkom and the like to legalise it. Maybe I am crazy, maybe I am idealistic, but one thing is for sure. Once Wimax hits, the landline business will change forever, Viva wireless web Viva!!
The other day I had coffe with a friend of mine who has an I.T. company. The coffee shop is just below their own business premises in a small shopping centre.
I asked him whether their monthly bill coffee shop bill doesn’t get a bit much. His reply was quite interesting: It costs him much less than the alternative: 1) Rent a board room with a tea kitchen 2) Employ a tea lady 3) Buy Cups, Coffee, Tea, etc.
Also, a board room only allows for one group to meet at a time, in the coffee shop, he could meet with a client, his business partner with another client at another table, and his installation team manager with his team at athird table, all without interfering with each other’s conversations.
Add to this a the pleasant ambience of the coffee shop, the variety on the menu, and the choice is obvious.
I had a situation this week, the client I was meeting with worked from home as I do….so where do you meet? I find the coffee shop a safe and neutral venue,especially if you don’t know the person. I just wish they had more electrical points.
See also the comments at http://www.tmtd.biz/2005/08/26/my-coffee-shop-office