http://www.wsj.com/articles/what-happens-when-cafes-pull-the-plug-on-wi-fi-1484669953 [not a new article but still apropos]

What Happens When Cafes Pull the Plug on Wi-Fi

Some New York City cafes are disconnecting and strange things are happening—people keep coming, and start talking

Birch Coffee eliminated Wi-Fi about a year ago.PHOTO: PETER J. SMITH FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

By Anne Kadet

Updated Jan. 19, 2017 12:58 pm ET

I can’t stand the cafe around the corner from my place. While it’s elegant and cozy, it’s infested with laptop jockeys.

Every time I stop in with a friend, we’re the only ones talking. Our chatter feels out of place. Indeed, I’ve gotten looks from patrons who clearly felt our conversation was interrupting their work.

This is totally bananas. When did it become rude to talk in a cafe?

I was delighted, then, to learn there are coffee shops around the city that have pulled the plug on the Wi-Fi, or banned laptops entirely.

“There’s Wi-Fi in the subway. There’s Wi-Fi everywhere,” says Jeremy Lyman, co-owner of Birch Coffee, a local, eight-store mini chain. “Why not use our space as an opportunity to disconnect and connect to someone sitting next to you?”

Birch eliminated Wi-Fi about a year ago, prompted by yet another customer griping about the slow internet connection.

They braced for complaints, says Mr. Lyman, “but it wasn’t as awful as we thought it would be.”

Sales are up and tables are turning over faster, he says.

Best of all, says Mr. Lyman, “When you walk into our store, there’s a few laptops, but nothing close to how many there were. There’s people talking. It’s such a beautiful thing.”

The Birch Coffee location on East 27th Street.PHOTO: PETER J. SMITH FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Café Grumpy, another local mini chain, is even more hard-core. It banned laptops in several of its eight locations.

“People were camping out at tables. People couldn’t chat with their friends,” says co-owner and chief executive Caroline Bell.

The result?

“It feels more fun, more interactive, more like New York City,” she says.

Some venues have it both ways. At DTUT on the Upper East Side, owner JJ McHugh unplugs the Wi-Fi on evenings and weekends.

That’s when the cafe becomes more of a date spot. Maintaining the Wi-Fi after hours “wouldn’t be good for either side,” he says. “Someone trying to work and someone trying to get lucky.”

But Birch takes things one step further. In his efforts to get customers talking, Mr. Lyman created conversation-starter cards that patrons can set on their table to invite encounters with strangers.

He encouraged me to give it a try: “Maybe you’ll meet someone who changes your life!”

I launched my experiment at the East 27th Street location, a startling scene on a Monday afternoon. The crowded, roaring venue felt like a party. I counted 37 customers and just three laptops.

I ordered a coffee and picked the conversation starter: “Tell me about the one life-changing book I should read.” I found an empty seat, set the card in front of me, and waited for the fun to start.

And waited. And waited.

No one approached. But I did enjoy indulging in one of my favorite hobbies: eavesdropping. The loud talker to my right delivered many fine gems including the insight, “Women can say panties, but men can’t say panties!”

I tried again at the West Village location. This time, I chose the conversation starter recommended by Mr. Lyman: “Tell me about your favorite superhero when you were little.”

I made a lot of progress in the book I brought along.

Just as I was about to leave, however, a nice gent who looked like a sea captain asked to join me. He was a Batman fan.

We talked about books, Donald Trump and his acid reflux.

When I reported my experience to Mr. Lyman, he sounded delighted.

Human interaction, after all, is what he hopes will set his cafes apart: “I’ve never seen anyone say, ‘You gotta go to this place, the Wi-Fi is really great!’”

Write to Anne Kadet at anne.kadet@wsj.com