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points by cush 2 days ago | 0 comments

Have you ever tried dragging that monitor and all those cables and peripherals into a Starbucks and camping there for 7 hours? This is a freelancer’s dream machine.

[–] paimapi 2 days ago

Do... people drag a full iMac to a public workspace like that? I feel like this would be ridiculed since even most co-working spaces provide monitor hookups. But if I saw you order a single coffee at a tiny shop and are set-up with an all-in-one desktop then me and everyone else will be giving you a side-eye

Slightly less worse would be one of those fold-out multi-monitor attachments that I've never seen in the wild either

[–] reaperducer 2 days ago

Do... people drag a full iMac to a public workspace like that?

I saw a guy with a Commodore PET at a coffee shop in Toronto once.

And more than once, I've been that guy with a TRS-80 at a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf shop in Las Vegas.

A TV reporter who stopped in for coffee seemed interested in what I was doing, until he saw that I was just playing Monopoly.

[–] paimapi 2 days ago

That seems really great, though. If you showed up with an ancient retro PC, you're asking for other nerds to chat you up and ask you what you're tinkering with.

Nobody's going to want to talk to you if you show up with a full iMac setup.

[–] drusepth 2 days ago

People still occasionally wear Vision Pros in public, so I don't think the normal social etiquette applies here.

That said, truly not caring what strangers at a coffee shop think about you is probably a great step toward a great life.

[–] paimapi 2 days ago

To a certain extent, yes. But you could apply that same logic to people who do indecent exposure. At some point, if you're setting up for 4+ hours in a tiny coffee shop with a laptop replacement and you're not buying more than just a cup of joe, you're doing a net-bad for your community by making that coffee shop and thus cheap community spaces less viable.

If you want to do it in a Panera or SBux go ahead but not in a local shop. Being conscientious is actually a good thing, believe it or not.

[–] chrisco255 2 days ago

There are plenty of local shops that are large, have plenty of seating, and don't mind you staying for several hours. It's up to the shop to enforce rules if it doesn't want people camping or using laptops or if it wants to require purchase.

[–] recursive 1 day ago

I've never seen someone wearing a VR headset in public. I'd do a double take for sure.

> That said, truly not caring what strangers at a coffee shop think about you is probably a great step toward a great life.

To an extent. But this is also how we get people watching social media clips at full volume in the cafe/bus/hiking trail. Which is a great step towards diminishing the life of everyone around you.

[–] drusepth 1 day ago

> But this is also how we get people watching social media clips at full volume in the cafe/bus/hiking trail. Which is a great step towards diminishing the life of everyone around you.

There's a very important distinction to be made between not caring what people think about your choices, and making choices that impose upon other people. Setting up a portable desktop at a coffee shop isn't imposing any more than hanging out at the same table with a laptop is. Blasting loud music from it is still a terrible thing to do.

[–] Exoristos 2 days ago

I feel comfortable asserting most freelance professionals have outgrown a fear of "side-eye".

[–] jcelerier 2 days ago

definitely saw a few in starbucks around the world. no one cares

[–] pandemic_region 2 days ago

Nothing personal, but the increasing amount of people setting up their work desk in coffee shops or lunch diners makes me not want to go there anymore. If I want to be surrounded by people working I'll go and eat at the office. It disturbs the vibe of the place a bit for me personally.

[–] rdtsc 2 days ago

> Have you ever tried dragging that monitor and all those cables and peripherals into a Starbucks and camping there for 7 hours? This is a freelancer’s dream machine

For sure and you get a nice workout hauling a full desktop computer around to coffee shops. A fun conversation starter too, I bet!

If you bring in a color printer and photo scanner, you can really get some work done. Just need to grab another table to fit it all. I am sure nobody would mind.

[–] cush 2 days ago

I’ve literally seen this

[–] giancarlostoro 2 days ago

Hold on, you do what now?

[–] kgwgk 2 days ago

Have you ever tried using an iMac at a Starbucks?

I mean, this seems like a dream but in a bad sense: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/01/imacs...