from Hacker News

No Screens Cafe

by chrismartin on 5/21/23, 6:56 PM with 119 comments

• by gkoberger on 5/21/23, 7:11 PM

  I don't hate the idea in general (a lot of cafes near me are laptop-free!), but the framing in this post is so judge-y and negative. There was a few sentences in the beginning were positive, but it quickly devolved into ranting about things that have changed and improved the lives for millions.

  Are iPhones overbearing? Sure. But they enable people to stay connected with family, meet new people, work remotely, and more. I'm not against a place that prefers phones stay in your pocket, but why frame it via moral outrage rather than being welcoming? Can you imagine the conversations you'd find yourself in at this place, given this is how the "owner" sees the world?

  And maybe what bothers me the most is that it's a blog post. Written on a screen and read via a screen. Blog posts are cheap to write; building a true Third Place is really really hard.

• by mvdtnz on 5/21/23, 7:09 PM

  > The No Screens Cafe accepts cash only.

  This is very strange. Maybe this would work in USA(?) but in many countries you're basically telling an overwhelming majority of your potential customers "you can't pay for things here". No one carries cash - it's all EFTPOS or CC. I don't see how cash-only supports the no screens policy. It feels entirely orthogonal.

  Same goes for the weird anti-car crusade. If you don't have parking, that's fine. No need to make it a thing.

• by divan on 5/21/23, 7:28 PM

  > E-book readers are screens, sorry. You’re welcome to read a regular book. We have whole shelves of them.

  I switched to e-books 12+ years ago, and I can't read regular books anymore. First, I need to find really good light (like direct sun light on a sunny day). Otherwise my eyes become tired quickly. Second, the book has to have a good paper quality (cheap greyish paper diminishes contrast). Third, the font should be large enough again not to strain the eyes. Fourth, regular book is heavier, I can't hold it with one hand, so end up sitting in uncomfortable positions (hello lumbar back pain, fellow readers). Fifth, I have utmost respect to paper books (parents had a library, so I grew up between books), and I have to wash my hands and dry them perfectly before I touch a paper book. I don't feel comfortable eating a croissant and read a paper book.

  Not to mention that it's just not always possible to find or buy book you want, especially in a reasonable time.

  Paper books are also screens in a way. Just with a user-controlled refresh rate (turn the page), and predefined images.

• by paxys on 5/21/23, 7:17 PM

  There are plenty of cafes and bars all over the world where people hang out, chat, socialize. They all operate just fine without any of these written rules or the judgmental and pretentious attitude of the author.

  I find more and more that people who write these daily "technology is killing the world", "people don't talk to each other these days" posts are the ones who are most addicted to their screens and looking for a way out. I can sympathize, but online rants aren't going to fix your problems. Shut your computer and phone, step out of your house and go start a conversation with someone. You can do it at your neighborhood coffee shop right now, and I can guarantee you will make new friends in minutes.

• by smaudet on 5/21/23, 7:28 PM

  I am not sure this place exists - if they do there is no website.

  I like the concept, practically banning phones would be hard. Other commenters are saying there would be no traffic, but actually when this sort of thing has been tried in past businesses have experienced boosts in sales.

  No parking would be a bit difficult, but I guess you could put it in a highrise or off of a bike trail, which would be fantastic.

  Lack of cars isn't really judgey, they do both pollute and make noise, plus you do end up with safety issues and ugly tar roads. They don't say never drive them, just they aren't going to make it easy for you.

  Which in the USA would make things difficult as nearly everything requires a car and so nobody is used to walking so few people do even if they might otherwise do so.

  I like the concept - I do agree the no credit card thing is a bit much - if you could design a screen less card reader (led status lights and rotary number displays), that would make I perfect IMO.

• by mysecretaccount on 5/21/23, 7:14 PM

  Doesn't Exist Wish Fulfillment Rant That You Posted Online Cafe

• by groby_b on 5/21/23, 7:32 PM

  I mean, I get that HN covers a wide range of interests, and I love that.

  But, let's be clear: this is a juvenile rant, at best. It's not an actual cafe. It doesn't propose anything actually workable. It shows no curiosity around the change of culture that occured, or what a change back would look like, just judgment. There's no commitment to building anything real. The writing is subpar.

  Is that really "gratifying intellectual curiosity" in any way?

• by bastawhiz on 5/21/23, 7:32 PM

  Except everyone has a phone and carries it with them all the time. Someone gets a text or call from their kid during school hours, but has to leave to check it. Your spouse texts, but you're halfway through a scone, so you need to take your food on the road to find out whether they need something. It's just oppressive absolutism; eliminating a critical part of people's everyday lives (even for folks who would find respite in a break from screens) to the point of banning digital payments is not doing anything to create a safe space. It's creating an ideal, not a friendly place.

• by jmclnx on 5/21/23, 7:10 PM

  Does this place exist ? Would be nice if it existed, but not sure how it would last these days.

  Reminds of the old Greek Cafes that I heard about where I grew up. An old timer told me during the 1920/30s, the city police force, mostly Irish, would raid these Greek Cafes all the time, unable to get their head around people only wanted to drink coffee and I guess tea :) This was during prohibition and they thought these cafes were bootlegging. They never found anything illegal.

• by satvikpendem on 5/21/23, 7:16 PM

  This actually exists in many cities already, nothing new. I know at least a few places in NYC like this that I've been to, as well as in other cities. Sadly, I didn't mark them down on the map but you can find them easily on Google I'm sure.

  Overall, the experience is pretty nice, you can chat with friends and sip some good coffee. These places usually have much higher quality coffee than other shops, since they're often specialty cafes.

• by neomech on 5/21/23, 7:16 PM

  Where is this cafe? It doesn't say, so it's not a very good advert for their service. Anyway, I'd like to check out the Co-work cafe next door.

• by blowski on 5/21/23, 7:07 PM

  I wonder if there were "no paper cafes" in the past, where books and newspapers were banned.

• by paulcole on 5/21/23, 7:10 PM

  A business everyone says is a great idea and that they wish existed but if it was around the corner from their house they’d never ever go.

  The Germans probably have a word for this.

• by alphabet9000 on 5/21/23, 7:40 PM

  hey so we don't allow screens here, and we're going to ask you to leave. hmm no thanks, im not going anywhere

  county sheriffs office. yea hi, um, we have this guy, he wont leave our store, and um, yeah, he refuses to leave, and, we just need somebody to get him to leave. ok, what is your location? were at no screens cafe. ok we have someone on the way. okay, thank you

• by caconym_ on 5/21/23, 7:53 PM

  Not sure if this is a real thing or a provocation piece but the concept would be much more interesting to me if it was a "no connectivity cafe", perhaps implemented with some sort of Faraday cage setup. My primary creative output is written fiction, and short of writing longhand (no thanks) or toting around some kind of vintage typewriter, which I would consider a waste of money and generally an insufferable affectation, it looks like this isn't a place for me to go and spend money and be creative. Sorry!

• by paradite on 5/21/23, 7:21 PM

  > The No Screens Cafe accepts cash only. You can get this from your bank! It’s not illegal yet.

  In Singapore shops can legally do not accept cash as payment as long as they provide written notice: https://www.mas.gov.sg/currency/circulation-currency/accepti....

  I've seen a few of them personally.

• by gnfargbl on 5/21/23, 7:22 PM

  Cash only, no phones? This is what we in the UK call a "Sam Smith's pub". It's not typically that fun a time, though the beer is cheap.

• by Animats on 5/21/23, 7:42 PM

  Starbucks is like that now. They removed all the tables and chairs from some locations, for homeless-proofing. Didn't lower the prices, though.

• by chickenpotpie on 5/21/23, 7:20 PM

  > Sorry, the No Screens Cafe doesn’t have wi-fi. Maybe try the Cowork Cafe next door.

  It's interesting that sometime in the 2000s, there became an expectation that coffee shops became a workplace. I can't think of another food service business where the expectation is that anyone can come in, buy a single item, demand the wifi password, and work from that space for multiple hours.

• by martopix on 5/21/23, 7:35 PM

  I like the idea a lot and would genuinely go to such a place. And I guess the judgemental tone is there because the idea is to specifically cater to the kind of people who feel sick of screens.

  But I don't understand the position against accepting cards. And I guess I also kinda disagree on e-readers, although modern ones can be used to connect to the internet and stuff, I suppose.

• by lbrito on 5/21/23, 8:27 PM

  The concept is cool, but man, have they missed the edginess mark.

  >Yes, there’s a bathroom. Inside it, a sign says “Big Brother is Watching”. We don’t have cameras or anything creepy like that. But we can’t say “God is watching”. Because we killed him.

  I feel like there is a long-forgotten proto-Indo-European symbol that conveys the amount of cringiness this paragraph exudes.

• by mrleinad on 5/21/23, 7:11 PM

  No customers-and-soon-to-be-out-of-business cafe is more like it.

• by moffkalast on 5/21/23, 7:25 PM

  > But we can’t say “God is watching”. Because we killed him.

  God was using a screen I see.

• by oktwtf on 5/21/23, 7:11 PM

  My favourite way to spend a day or two is to turn off my iPhone, toss it in the glovebox and hit the highway to the Rockies. If more life was “disconnected” at least my inner peace would be bolstered.

• by sverona on 5/21/23, 9:09 PM

  If you're going to run a shop like this, it had better have a newsstand, a library, a collection of board games, and the best coffee in town.

• by sircastor on 5/21/23, 8:04 PM

  Okay so this is not a real Cafe, right?

  I think in the US this sort of business might fly if you’re in a very large city that is easily commutable. Otherwise I can’t see how there’s enough patronage to maintain a space, and pay people.

  It’s a nice idea, but I don’t think it’d mesh with reality (again, in the US)

• by sanman811 on 5/21/23, 7:09 PM

  A very relevant podcast I was listening to this morning about screens and gaming. Always enjoy the times I hear from Dr. Kanojia

  https://youtu.be/HYiG2m8fSiE

• by yaya69 on 5/21/23, 7:07 PM

  no people cafe

• by yieldcrv on 5/21/23, 7:20 PM

  there are a variety of clubhouses with rules like this. they can be quite byzantine like "laptops only usable in this section, until 4pm" or something like that

  but I appreciate it a lot!

• by jemmyw on 5/21/23, 9:51 PM

  No cafe near me caters to laptop users. It's a bit more of a rural/farming/touristy area. I'd love a cafe that included a place to work and/or read.

• by jonathantf2 on 5/21/23, 7:12 PM

  Sounds like a good idea, but no cards is a dealbreaker for me.

• by nayuki on 5/21/23, 7:29 PM

  > We don’t have any parking for cars. Cars kill innocent pedestrians and emit toxic gas. Cars ruin cities.

  I see they resonate with Reddit/FuckCars.

• by colesantiago on 5/21/23, 7:23 PM

  More like "How not to run a cafe" cafe.

• by darepublic on 5/22/23, 3:41 PM

  If you blog it, they will come