NYC coffee shops pulling the plug on laptops?

Laptops and coffee shops go together just as well as espresso and steamed milk – or, at least, they certain seem to when you consider the fact that you can’t walk into a coffee shop without seeing at least one person typing away on their laptop, hard at work on a coffee break. For years, small coffee shops used free wifi and a friendly environment to lure customers in, away from the sometimes less expensive fast food coffee options. With business slowing down, some small coffee shops in New York City want to cut the cord on laptop use and free up space taken by cyber-loiterers for customers who want to simply sit and drink their coffee.

Seeing as I’m sitting in a coffee shop typing this right now, I tend to favor wifi at coffee shops – but then, I also always have at least a drink or two while I’m working and don’t just take up space for hours on end. It would be sad to see free wifi come to an end (and it hopefully won’t happen anytime soon out here in California!), but on the other hand, it would also be nice to walk into a coffee shop and snag a table to hang out at without competing with people who staked out a table in the morning and stayed until close to make use of the free wifi.