Friday, December 10, 2010

Notes from Laptopistan

Credit to David Sax of the NYT for the name. Trying the working mode advocated in the article and occupying a spot in a cafe once a week or so. Clearly it requires some technique, however...

This afternoon, I worked out of Peregrine Espresso in Capitol Hill. It's a nice place, with good tea and coffee, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that it would be full of laptoppers. Every seat was full when I walked in. Fortunately, one person was packing up, so I got the table he vacated, but then gave it up to some people who were trying to have a conversation in favor of a seat at a bar. But after about an hour my back ached, and I didn't like fighting for elbow space with the people on either side. Plus, it's distracting to have two bright laptop screens on either side of you - I kept glancing over at each without meaning to, and alternated between feeling superior and jealous when noting that they were not doing any actual work.

Additional gear for the cafe survival kit for next time: headphones and an extension cord.

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