What you need is a Bring Your Own Computer Internet café.
10 years ago, I hanged out a lot in internet cafés, and loved it. There was definitely something cool about it: hanging out with tech-savvy people, using beastly machines on powerful internet connections, exploring the exponentially exploding internet, playing games, ... It was a very social experience, and I befriended a few other regulars there.
I do miss the ambiance of these cafés, and I wish that laptops, better internet connections (the days of 56k are long gone) and ubiquitous free WiFi hadn't killed that kind of business.
There's potential for a revival of internet cafés, though. Good Wifi, preinstalled docks for common laptops, smartly arranged space (to avoid spilling coffee on your precious laptop because you accidentally pulled a cable !) and a different pricing model, you could attract easily the horde of Starbucks and McDonald's "laptop hobos"...
Yes! I totally agree! It doesn't even have to be intended as a coffee shop - just like a coworking space where I can show up, plug my laptop in to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, sit down at a comfy office chair and desk, and work for a few hours. Would gladly pay for that service.
Search for co-working spaces in your area. Most have an annual fee (I believe the one closest to my house charges $500 for the year) and are exactly what you described.
Really? I live in the Bay Area and the ones that I've seen have pretty poor amenities. Even rather famous ones like Hacker Dojo look like just some cheap tables and chairs thrown together.
10 years ago, I hanged out a lot in internet cafés, and loved it. There was definitely something cool about it: hanging out with tech-savvy people, using beastly machines on powerful internet connections, exploring the exponentially exploding internet, playing games, ... It was a very social experience, and I befriended a few other regulars there.
I do miss the ambiance of these cafés, and I wish that laptops, better internet connections (the days of 56k are long gone) and ubiquitous free WiFi hadn't killed that kind of business.
There's potential for a revival of internet cafés, though. Good Wifi, preinstalled docks for common laptops, smartly arranged space (to avoid spilling coffee on your precious laptop because you accidentally pulled a cable !) and a different pricing model, you could attract easily the horde of Starbucks and McDonald's "laptop hobos"...