One problem is if you have to take a leak. Don't leave your laptop unattended ...
At LAT, "Free, unlimited Wi-Fi policy begins at Starbucks":
Ted Thompson, a civil engineer from Santa Clarita, likes his coffee without Internet.The way it works is you buy a Starbucks drink card with a login code on the back. Customers load the card with money (I started with $5.00) and then register with a password. Only one bummer: I had to go home to register since I couldn't log into the store's WiFi when I first got the coffee card. Other than that, I'm more comfortable at home, watching news, movies, and sports while blogging and tweeting!
But sitting in a downtown Los Angeles Starbucks, he worried that there might not be much room for him in the chain's shops in the future.
"You won't be able to find a place to sit down anymore if more people are coming in to use their computers," said Thompson, 70. "I thought a coffee shop was for drinking coffee."
On Thursday, Starbucks Corp. instituted a free, unlimited Wi-Fi Internet policy for patrons at its nearly 6,800 company-operated stores in the U.S., plus 750 locations in Canada.
Some competitors beat Starbucks to it. Six months ago, McDonald's Corp. launched free Wi-Fi at about 11,500 U.S. locations. The companies have been butting heads ever since McDonald's debuted its McCafe line of coffee drinks a year ago, typically at lower prices than at Starbucks.
Even before the free Wi-Fi policy some customers spent hours in Starbucks shops with their laptops, taking up the tables and chairs. The Seattle company doesn't have a policy regarding how long a person is allowed to stay, even if he or she doesn't purchase so much as a "tall coffee" (despite the name, the smallest size offered).
The new free, unlimited Wi-Fi program could bring in more of those folks.
"This is a double-edged sword," said Eli Portnoy, a Los Angeles brand strategist who stopped going to Starbucks months ago because it was always "littered with laptops."
"It's going to get worse," he said. "But I feel they think it's a no-win situation, that if they don't offer prime amenities that they're going to be at a loss."
It's good to have for traveling, that's for sure. I made sure I got all set up before I went to cover the Arizona immigration rallies, just in case I had problems at the hotel, or if I got stranded somewhere hopefully I could find a Starbucks to kill time ...
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