I’ve said before that I’m not really interested in using a public coffee shop for working. I think it might be more workable in the US where internet access is ubiquitous and there’s certainly more of a laptop culture but laptops are still few and far between in Europe.
The spacial logistics for using a coffee shop are also pretty poor:
- Tables often too small (designed for two lattés and a danish)
- Coffee plus laptop = bad (Trust me on this one)
- Laptops often too big (Come on Apple!)
- Large laptop bags obstruct walkways (this creates coffee+laptop situations)
I’ve witnessed business meetings in coffee shops around Belfast – three smart suits with starched collars, three document folders, one laptop and no room for any of it. People working off their knees is going to be fine for a short meeting but not for a co-working facility.
When we wrote up the business plan for “The New Workspace” last summer, we considered these problems very carefully in our design and plans for the office.
What would you consider as essential logistics for a workspace?
#1 by Berislav Lopac on May 1, 2007 - 7:13 pm
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Matt, would you like sharing the business plan? Perhaps over on the Google “Coworking” group?
#2 by Matt Johnston on May 3, 2007 - 3:37 pm
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I’m not on the Google Group. Don’t really know why – I don’t use any Google Groups. What am I missing?
#3 by DUBLIN.net on May 10, 2007 - 2:08 am
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- decent coffee
- cheap food
- power (my laptop battery is on last legs)
Not too worried about the table size but obviously bigger is better.
Look forward to hearing more about the business plan.