Starbucks says that they are "selling an experience." I can buy that, after spending a week in New York City with crappy coffee Starbucks was a real godsend. One thing I realized is that when you are in a neighborhood you don't know (eg, Park Slope in Brooklyn), it is important to be able to know you won't annoy people if you sit down for an hour or two to read a book with a cup of coffee. I'd been "evicted" in Norwich, Vermont, once when a tour bus came through and more recently paying customers were to be had. But anyhow, the main reason I'm posting this is of late I've been noticing many, many, more people are transacting business in Starbucks. The other day a boomer was trying to sell a timeshare, while a few weeks ago another guy was trying to pass along a pyramid scheme to someone else, and a month ago some woman was signing home loan (yes!) papers. I don't know how I feel about this, if Starbucks is about "selling the experience," do people really want to experience the office while they're sipping their coffee? Then again, I guess some people have mooted the possibility of banning lap-top wielding squatters hacking away code for years....