An iPad Is Not a Laptop
Cafe Grumpy’s one of the best coffeebars in NY. It’s known for two things: One of the few places that to get Clover-made coffee in NY, and it banned laptops. I was there last Sunday; it’s incredible. People were talking.
That is, instead of staring silently, glass-eyed and slack-jawed, faces aglow with the soft light of a laptop, occasionally slurping coffee, rows and rows of slumped-over humanity. The place was packed. Bustling. Alive. I couldn’t find a place to sit.
It’s a vibe I haven’t seen in a coffeebar in a long time, especially not in New York. (The closet-sized abraco excepted, where everybody always seems escstatic about being there, and perhaps not coincidentally, cannot sit.) People used to go to coffee shops to talk. Read. Or hell, enjoy coffee. Now they’re simply the other place to use a laptop: not home, not work. People sit affixed and silent. For hours. I’ve done it. But there’s no question: Laptops smother the atmosphere. So it’s amazingly refreshing to feel something different, people connecting to people, instead of gadgets.
Which brings us to the iPad. It’s supposed to be this third thing. Bigger than a phone, smaller than a laptop. It browses; it’s got books; it plays video. Can it possibly have a place in a laptop-free utopia? I asked Caroline Bell, who owns Cafe Grumpy, if she’s going to drop the banhammer on the iPad when they come out. Her reply surprised me:
I think iPads would make for some interesting conversations these days because you don’t see too many around yet…plus, they don’t take up much table space nor do they create a physical barrier between you the rest of the world when you put them down in front of you. So, I guess I won’t be adding no iPads to the signs just yet!
I wonder how long that’ll last.
View full post on Gawker: valleywag
I can’t wait for an Ipad Nano. Those things are gonna fit right into the palm of your hand, and you can play music and movies on them.. it’ll sell billions.
Scuba Steve
You should check out Smooch. I was just working there yesterday. Great atmosphere, nice friendly staff, good food, and free wifi.
solOptimus
@OMG! Ponies!: HE HAS A ‘PUTER!! GLASS HIM!!!
I’ve GOT to go to this place!! lol
relawson
@OldSchoolGadgetLover: wow… are we still whining about the iPad?
stifflittlefinger
@OMG! Ponies!: Its a guideline that will get you laptop smashed.
SewerShark
@FutureShock: I go to two coffee shops in Santa Fe, NM. One is full of laptop users, mostly quiet, the occasional conversation or meeting. The other has a no-laptop policy, it’s always filled to the brim, bustling, with people talking, reading, meeting in groups. It’s also in a busier part of town, which I imagine makes a big difference.
unique172
@OldSchoolGadgetLover: Please do. Somewhere else.
Who Shot Who in the What Now?
@elementary: this made me lol
Steeplebomb
@OldSchoolGadgetLover: Dude, you forgot ‘private jet’….HOW COULD YOU!?!?
TheSonOfKrypton
Matt I didn’t know you went to Grumpy. I live a few buildings away from there.
imTheKing
If she really cared about atmosphere she’d ban coffee. Makes people jumpy and jittery. Makes em talk too much too. And it’s not good for your heart.
I do like the ban on laptops though. Anyone who wants to do real work should be using a tower. Laptops are for sissies.
frigg
@blazedshaggy: You win!
SEDAGIVE?!
@betterdays: …that’s what she said?
TuxBobble
Yeah, I’m with Geisrud on this one. Sounds like a cost cutting measure of some type. Or just another crazy NYC thing.
Deckard
@Hearthatvoiceagain supports Channan’s Law: obama is pleased with these rules
sthomas
The iPad is also not:
A Real Internet Browser (no flash)
A Video Chat Interface (no Camera)
A media player (no HDMI or USB)
A phone
A refrigerator
I could go on…
OldSchoolGadgetLover
@Lupus_Yonderboy: I only support laptop usage at coffee shops if they don’t use the outlet and don’t leave their bags all over the place.
franco1975
@nczuma: Hey those berets cost $real $money you know. And you have to place them very carefully over your messed up hair – which you spend a half hour getting messed up with gel *just right*.
wolfshades
@Hearthatvoiceagain supports Channan’s Law: Damn! My unicorn only shits shit.
Come on Lucky, we’ll find another place get coffee.
elementary
yeah.. i like the idea of banning laptops in cafeterias… i really miss the old ambience of a cafeteria where people talk and get to know other people…
NurseJunn
@ravingfool: “Glad to hear there are some civilised people in certain parts of the States!”
Oh? And the rest of the States are not?
Max_Power_Turbo
@Hearthatvoiceagain supports Channan’s Law: You mean I can bring Mr. Sprinkles with me??? Best. Day. EVER!!!!
PsychoSuperman
Most NY dive bars also have a no laptop rule. If you try to use a laptop at Lucky 13, it’ll get smashed.
Actually, it’s more of a guideline than a rule.
OMG! Ponies!
I can’t be the only one feelin’ the hipster vibe here.
It’s bad enough when I pass the coffee shop down the street and see a bunch of twenty-something year old’s sporting beret’s and drinking latte’s while on their Macbook.
nczuma
“Its a phone! Its a laptop! No its a itouch on steroids!”
I love apple products…but this one I’m going to pass up. I have an iTouch, and it fits in my pockets. I’ll wait for the iTouch with a camera when I get my new laptop for school next semester. (we all know those student rebates)
Maikeru03
Note to the reader: I’m very grumpy at the moment.
This is so stupid. The iPad is very much like a laptop in size situations. Example: If i’m going to the theater (or anywhere where one has to wait) and I know it’s gonna have a huge line, I don’t bring my laptop to entertain me. I bring my phone. Why? Because it’s small, convenient and I need it. I don’t bring my laptop because it’s big and requires some sort of bag for me to take it in. If I had an iPad (which I currently don’t want) my phone would win over the iPad in that same situation.
Nonetheless the iPad in size will travel close to how most laptops will. You need a bag or something to store it in because you’re not just gonna shove it in your pocket. It’ll probably have more use from women considering how I see so many of them carrying these huge “purses” around so they’ll always have some place to put it in.
*End Rant*
Post Script: Sorry for my grumpy-ness.
SergioAM
@franco1975: Some NYC coffee shops take interesting approaches to the whole “laptop” thing – you’ve got to understand, the typical laptop user (and yes, I get that you’re not typical) will sit in a coffee shop, siphoning their power, taking up their tables, for hours & hours (while they study, surf, whatever), all the while drinking the same cup of cold coffee or nibbling on the same muffin because, hey, “I’ve paid my rent on this table, I’ll use it as long as I want”. Annoys the hell out of me, personally, because when I’m in the coffee shop, I’m looking to, you know, drink my coffee…while sitting…with a friend, maybe. I hate the kids who have their laptops out, one person taking up a two person table, who have been sitting there for five hours and aren’t leaving anytime soon. Some coffee shops have removed/covered outlets, some make you sit at communal tables, some ban laptops. Those coffee shops actually get more of my business, and I’m the business that they want – because I actually buy stuff.
Sorry for the wall of text. /rant.
Lupus_Yonderboy
Where’s iMac/Panera guy when you need him?
bill cant fart
She just doesn’t want to pony up for the bandwidth.
Geisrud
@PsychoSuperman: Nice comment, shes probably as we speak searching for the iPad at the apple store while the geniuses are laughing.
Maikeru03
I was discussing this 3rd realm of “tween” tech with a co-worker. The space that seems to have netbooks, iPads, and slate tablets competing by year end.
Promoted by the “Phone is not a PC” mantra by MS, I wonder what people want in this space. The conclusion I came to is it’s not a one device space, it’s more of a dumbphone, featurephone, smartphone arena.
The iPad is for light creation and heavy consumption of vetted material, non-flash web content, books, music, video and Apps. Netbooks will be the cheap small devices that you can type on better, but are a little sluggish. And last you will have the full featured slate that will allow you to have the full OS experience in a streamlined form factor.
It will all come down to what an individual user wants to use in the tween space, and IF the Courier comes out (I put it in the iPad category) MS will be positioned with devices in all three segments, Google will be in two (netbooks and tablets, but no real full featured OS even when Chrome comes out) while Apple will just have the one.
I wonder how the market will shake out. Maybe there can be only one and Apple is right, but they really are putting all their eggs in one basket.
PsychoSuperman
Wait til it grows to 12 or 13 inches and it will be banned
betterdays
We don’t quite have the same coffeebar culture as you (although its spreading thanks to some big brands) but instead we have the original meeting place – pubs.
A lot of pubs in England ban not only computers but any kind of mobile phone. It’s just not British and you will be ejected if your phone goes off and you don’t smother it instantly, or worse, actually answer the damn thing.
Glad to hear there are some civilised people in certain parts of the States!
[I say this having recently returned from a thoroughly enjoyed two week 'vacation' in the US of A]
ravingfool
@BleekBleek: Because laptops also take up a lot more real-estate. Someone with a book is going to take up about 64 square inches of table space, someone with a laptop (not a netbook) will take up at least 144. Those extra four inches or so on all sides makes for a lot of table space that gets taken up, cumulatively at least, if everyone is using a laptop. There are also coffee shops in NYC (s’Nice comes to mind) that don’t let you use laptops at individual tables – if you want to use one, you have to sit at their large communal tables so that all the laptop users don’t take up all of their two tops (one person with one cup of coffee taking up an entire table with their laptop, bag, coat, etc., sitting there all day vs. two people actually eating or talking who will get out of there in about an hour or so, two people seems to work out better for their finances for some reason).
Lupus_Yonderboy
What is the difference between a laptop and someone surfing on their phone? IMO its a marketing statement.
jcbenten
This is not a laptop..
blazedshaggy
She must be an Apple Fangirl! Get her!!!!! lol
armendni
@PsychoSuperman: For the same reason, unicorns that shit rainbows are also not banned.
Hearthatvoiceagain supports Channan’s Law
@mmmiles: LOL good one
cntyglghtly
@Max_Power_Turbo: The VAIO P comes close I’d say. A hackintosh would just make you a poseur though.
oyumurtaci
@PsychoSuperman: hahaha
armendni
Ah… you need to come to coffee shops over here in the Old Continent. People tend to be chatty, animated. In many people often stand at the counter. And seeing someone writing on paper, or reading a non e-book is a common thing
Kit Eaton
@nvleafs: his name is robert paulson
his name is robert paulson
his name is robert paulson
his name is robert paulson
WWSJD
For New Yorkers and NYC lovers: that area is truly one of the best of the entire city.
The best Cappuccino though can be found at Le Grainne Cafe, few blocks away on 9th ave. Or in Italy, that is.
Hyperblack
I curse technology for making me interact with my fellow humans!
I, for one, will not buy an iPad if it makes me socially interact with others.
I hate people.
ottermann killed Kenny
“Ceci n’est pas une ipad”
blazedshaggy
I dunno, I think I saw that Steve Jobs guy putting it on top of his lap.
MacAttack7388
@FriarNurgle: There’s an app for that.
comrade_leviathan
@FriarNurgle: What, you mean something you never admit you do in case people laugh at you?
Hearthatvoiceagain supports Channan’s Law
@franco1975: The distinction that she’s making is that an iPad doesn’t create a barrier between you and other people, and doesn’t take up table space.
And don’t worry, she’s talking about all slates, not just the iPad. It’s not pro-Apple discrimination.
comrade_leviathan