[throwawayohio]

So turning cafes into coworking spaces? They even use AirBnb as the base example, and we've seen how that's gone for cities around the world. This sounds tragic.

[Angostura]

Cafés already are coworking spaces. Much to the annoyance of the cafes. This tackles that.

[horsawlarway]

And they always have been.

If you want people to just sit and eat - you're a restaurant.

If you want people to just order and leave - you're a food stall/truck.

Cafe's have always been the intermediate. A place to sit and read/discuss/write/work/hang out. While also occasionally going to the counter to buy small food or drinks.

If you're annoyed by this... don't run a cafe.

Simple & sane rules like "you have to order something to sit at a table" are hardly novel.

[bombcar]

I’m now imagining an art installation-tables designed so you can set a cup of coffee on them but any attempt to use a laptop will cause it to continually tip and rock while typing.

We’ve weaponized furniture against the homeless, why not against the laptop class?

[zffr]

I'm at a cafe in NYC right now. Every single person here is on their laptop including me.

[gchamonlive]

The analogy is just that, an analogy. The Airbnb case can be tragic for some cities but for specific reasons that aren't going to affect cafés. I for one haven't seen anyone staying overnight and sleeping in a café.

The project could be catastrophic for cafes for unforeseen reasons, but those are surely not going to be the same as for Airbnb. You'd have to come up with a plausible threat scenario, otherwise your extrapolation of the analogy has no substance.