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| - I'm so relieved that someone else noticed the fact that the tables are arranged not like desks in a classroom. I thought I was going crazy...coming in I saw maybe 15 people sitting down at 20 little identical tables, *all* in front of laptops...nearly all facing the same direction. All I could think was "This must be what coffee shops in re-education camps look like". (It's not *that* bad- and they have more traditional seating in the back; I think this is just how they've had to adjust to crowding.) Because of that, it took me a few minutes after taking myself to really feel comfortable.
I had a tasty (and cheap, albeit small) pot of tea and sat down facing the opposite direction, just to be contrarian. Their wifi was free, which is a big plus, but they didn't have good power outlet access, which is a big minus. The staff was friendly, the selection of teas was phenomenal, but the music was just a bit too loud (and at some times, flat out awkward) for my tastes, and all in all, it just didn't quite click. I had gone there to get some reading done - I was able to get it done, which was good, but I didn't feel the desire to linger around once my work was done, which was bad. All in all, asi asi.
I did see someone there reading a seminal paper in ubiquitous computing, so I have to vouch for the crowd (sorry, nerd pride). And the desks are actually well suited to getting serious work done (I imagine a big plus for a lot of people, given the number of laptops). But for me, I was really hoping to find a cozy place to escape the world while being productive - and for that, I'll have to keep looking.
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