Photograph by Jeff Kearns
Using a wireless LAN card, hardware designer Jeremy Ridgeway can connect to his server at work from Starbucks. Ridgeway says the cafe's wireless Internet connection is his only Internet connection right now.
Cyberspace is brewing in Cupertino
Wireless services provide local coffee shops and their patrons with newfound online freedom
By George Moore
The beauty of a laptop computer's portability is that it lets its users plop down wherever they please to do their work. Unfortunately, dependence on Internet connectivity can prevent those who want to from escaping the office and their homes and literally working outside. But the phenomenon of public wireless connectivity is starting to break the boundary.
Airports, hotels, delis, cigar shops, breweries and, of course, coffeehouses are just a few venues catering to the needs of laptop surfers. The hip yet unpretentious Coffee Society, located at 21265 Stevens Creek Blvd., in Cupertino's Oaks Shopping Center, joined the ranks April 12 when it became one of more than 1,000 wireless Internet access locations of hereUare Communications.
Owner Ralph Flynn opened the coffeehouse just after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and truly created a diverse society--people who want to see and be seen, meet up with friends or just hang out.
"We foster that trend more than any other cafe in the Bay Area," Flynn said.
Now his clientele can make themselves at home on a couch or chaise lounge in the back of the cafe or sit outside on the patio and check their email between sips of double soy mochas.
Adam Brioza, operations manager at the cafe, said customers have two options for the wireless service. They can either purchase, for $5, a 24-hour access card, which has a scratch-off area to reveal a user name and password, or they can pay a monthly subscription, between $20 and $30, that can be used wherever hereUare is available.
Cary Campbell, a programmer and consultant, had his "office" set up at the cafe on a Tuesday evening for the second time that week because the area in which he normally works at his house was taken over by his daughter's school project.
"I was squeezed out," said Campbell. "So I came down here to see what it's like. It's very pleasant here, and quiet."
Campbell, a resident of Cupertino for the past 24 years, said that most of his clients don't have space for him or want to provide it--they just want him to do the work. He wasn't aware that the cafe was providing the wireless service to the Internet.
"I think it's a great idea," Campbell said. "I have a wireless setup at home, so it would be natural for me to use it here."
Campbell said he would be willing to subscribe to the monthly service and was intrigued by the fact that he could go online in a variety of locations. At the hereUare web site, a database will search by state, city and zip code to provide users with its Public Wireless Access Points or "Wi-Fi Hot Spots." Le Boulanger deli/cafes, the Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport, the Tied House brewery in San Jose and numerous coffeehouses were located after a brief visit to their web site.
Photograph by Jeff Kearns
The use of LAN cards (above) in such local coffee shops as Cupertino's Coffee Society facilitates local residents' attempts to wirelessly connect to their places of employment.
But hereUare is not alone in its endeavor to provide public places with wireless capabilities. Although hereUare announced last February that it held 62 percent of the market share, T-Mobile, formerly MobileStar, has a grip on more than 500 Starbucks across the country and is rapidly adding more. Another company, named Boingo, claims to have the largest wireless broadband footprint in the world--done by leasing its network infrastructure from others in the business.
Sriram Thodla, a Saratoga resident sits at a table at the Starbucks in the Crossroads Shopping Center on the corner of De Anza and Stevens Creek Boulevard, peering into the screen of his laptop computer.
"I hate being stuck inside the office," Thodla said.
Being a web application developer, Thodla often uses the Internet to find reference materials, but does not subscribe to any Wi-Fi service.
"Right now, for example, I would love to be able to go online and look up something to help me on a specific topic," Thodla said.
Store manager Jacob Bruce said wireless service is offered there, but customers have to set up their account with T-Mobile, and they don't sell 24-hour access cards.
Bruce said he has heard a lot of good feedback from customers who do subscribe and use it regularly.
Back at the Coffee Society, a De Anza College student takes off his shoes and gets comfortable on the couch while reading a textbook. Another patron relaxes in a chaise lounge, reading a novel. Some are quietly studying or reading alone, while others chat with friends. A large group of teens is mingling outside the cafe.
"Ralph really knows his coffee shops," said Campbell, who was calling it a night and heading for home.
Brioza said the cafe has always been a place at which, once you step inside, everybody's an equal.
"You are so welcome to be here," Brioza said. "It's like a big family, basically. Many times you'll see heavily tattooed punk rockers hanging out with businessmen, playing chess. We've always prided ourselves on that aspect. It's a 'see and be seen' place. That's why we have all the windows. It's like a big fish tank."
A fish tank that's now in cyberspace.
Cupertino, California Since 1947
