Barista asks patrons to put away their laptops and “talk to each other”

Has there ever been an image that more powerful portrays our addiction to technology? Source: Instagram

SCREENS are taking over our lives. We can’t go anywhere without pulling one from our pocket and swiping up and down or, for the daters out there, left and right.

So you’d think, naturally, that people might just freak out when an inner city cafe in the busiest city in Australia pulled the plug on the internet and asked, politely, that customers engage with one another. Nope. In fact, the opposite happened.

Dom Di Miscio last month did what more and more businesses are doing when he erected a chalkboard outside his Redfern business reading: “We do not have Wi-Fi. Drink coffee and talk to each other.”

Stop it. Source: News Corp Australia

Dom Di Miscio wants to throw back to his Italian roots. Source: Supplied

“I’m Italian and my idea of a coffee shop is a place to meet and talk and to get to know people,” the 26-year-old said.

“In Italy, we are not so focused on phones and computers, it’s much less popular. People talk about news and politics and soccer.”

He said crowds have not been turned off, rather they have flocked to buy coffees and spend time getting to know one another.

“It’s actually working,” Di Miscio said. “Since I put up that sign we’ve had heaps more people in. You can ask the barista, it’s unbelievable. I’m really proud of what we’re doing.”

Husband and wife team Jodi and Phil bit the bullet when they banned laptops and tablets from their bakery last year. The pair, from Burlington in the US state of Vermont, said they made the decision because laptop patrons were spending more time, and much less money, than those not tied to their electronic device.

August First in the US banned laptops and tablets last year. Picture: Facebook Source: Supplied

“When we were dreaming of what August First will be — will it be this place with seven people staring at their screens?” Whalen told the Guardian.

“Or would it be a place where people come to see people they know, chitchat, laugh?”

She said the hardest part was cutting the cords.

August First bit the bullet after patrons were spending less money and more time in store. Picture: Facebook Source: Supplied

Hoodline, which compared a pair of coffee shops in San Francisco last year — one with Wi-Fi and one without — concluded “the wireless and space is free, but often comes at the owner’s expense”.

Medium argued recently that, personal choice aside, there is a good reason NOT to log on to free Wi-Fi at your local coffee shop.

“We took a hacker to a cafe and, in 20 minutes, he knew where everyone else was born, what schools they attended, and the last five things they googled.”

Maybe a chat would be nice, after all.

You can get Wi-Fi just about anywhere. Margherita Sollai, 27, enjoys it at Wangi Falls in the Northern Territory. Picture: Ivan Rachman Source: News Corp Australia

post from sitemap