On my most recent visit, I chatted with the owner about two disappointing trends I've noticed at Steve's. A few years ago, you could count on a neat little plug strip next to each table. In addition to good coffee, glorious muffins, and burbling chilled-out house music, you could find at Steve's a good place to get your work done. The Wi-Fi has always been spotty, but a lot of the good tables have been replaced with little cocktail tables and, worse yet, those ubiquitous plug strips are gone. Steve explained that he's tired of people buying his coffee and studying, thereby taking up space in his store. So in order to make more money, he's getting rid of the plugs and plans to get rid of the free wifi in the next few years.
He seemed to think this would not be a problem; I think he underestimates how many people require wifi to do their work and how little most folks care about gourmet-level coffee if it comes without a good place to do work.