Modern Europe bans working from cafes, but Old Europe invented it
The difference between European and American cafes is so stark
In Europe many don't allow laptops anymore
In America they usually do and people are working on something cool!
Why is this important?
Nvidia, a $3 trillion dollar company, was started in a Denny's, an American diner
People need a third space to work on their laptops to build the next billion or trillion dollar company
The benefits of working in a publicly accessible coffee place were already known to Europeans like Isaac Newton 400 years ago
Somehow we forgot:
The Age of the Enlightenment happened in 1687 because of people meeting in publicly accessible coffeehouses, not private offices/coworkings:
Historians often associate English coffeehouses, during the 17th and 18th centuries, with the intellectual and cultural history of the Age of Enlightenment: they were an alternate sphere, supplementary to the university. Political groups frequently used coffeehouses as meeting places.
The first coffeehouses established in Oxford were known as penny universities, as they offered an alternative form of learning to structural academic learning, while still being frequented by the English virtuosi who actively pursued advances in human knowledge. The coffeehouses would charge a penny admission, which would include access to newspapers and conversation.[13] Reporters called "runners" went around to the coffeehouses announcing the latest news.
This environment attracted an eclectic group of people who met and mingled with each other. In a society that placed such a high importance on class and economic status, the coffeehouses were unique because the patrons were people from all levels of society.[15] Anyone who had a penny could come inside. Students from the universities also frequented the coffeehouses, sometimes even spending more time at the shops than at school
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_coffeehouses_in_the_17th_and_18th_centuries
My fav tweet related to this is @PascalPixel testing out every possible combination to see what is allowed or not in a Lisbon cafe 😂
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