Apple's iPad and tablets in general. The "pet rock" of the 2000's

Was in Chapters (bookstore) which has a Starbucks in it. There were about 30 people seated. Most of them were working. Students, business people. Nearly ALL had a laptop, a couple were on phones and only one had a tablet,a Microsoft Surface with a keyboard.

 

You and nospam should form a market research firm as a partnership.
You both feel that one person's personal observation is a valid claim
that can be extrapolated.

 

Actually tablets make fine work machines, they're just not "sit at a
desk" work machines. I've seen them used for inventory and other
situations where a handheld device makes sense.

 

Probably means people in Toronto with taste have more sense than to buy
over diluted $tarbuck$ American weak coffee. Local chains are better.

Actually with an ancillary keypad and an origami stand they are not too
bad as a netbook - less powerful than a full laptop but also lighter.

And for many inventory or tick box exercises in the workplace they come
into their own since there is no scrappy mechanical keyboard to get
germs, oil and rubbish trapped in. One wipe of the screen with a
suitable cleaner or bactericide and you are good to go again.

 

yep, pick the right tool for the job.

also, more and more tasks can be done on tablets. it's a rapidly
growing market and it's not all for playing or consumption.

 

one of the many reasons why they are popular in hospitals

 

Was in Chapters (bookstore) which has a Starbucks in it. There were about
30 people seated. Most of them were working. Students, business people.
Nearly ALL had a laptop, a couple were on phones and only one had a tablet,
a Microsoft Surface with a keyboard.
The lesson for me in that story is the sorry state of
coffee shops. They used to be places to go for
socializing, stimulating conversation and people
watching. I haven't done that for years. There aren't
any coffee shops like that left. Starbucks also
epitomizes another thing missing from present-day
coffee shops: delicious bakery products made on-site.
Their $3-4 bakery products are, without exception,
greasy and *very* over-sweetened.

 

Starbucks coffee weak? To me, it is far too strong and bitter.

 

Yes, I know. You sometimes have to take more than one flight, or view
both Coach and Business Class, to determine national market share
figures.

Arguing with industry figures would be crazy if you took just one
airplane ride and made your projections.

 

Whatever one's take, it's crap. There are hundreds of better choices in
large metropolitan areas, fewer in suburbia.

And the better coffee shops in the SF Bay Area have a nice mix of iPads,
MacBook Airs, MacBook Pros, with the odd PC here and there.

I'd expect a lot of PCs in any old Starbucks.

 

Support your local espresso shop, and bakery, if you're lucky enough to
have them.

 

I suppose, if one drank it enough, one could acquire a taste for
Starbuck's coffee. The only times I've frequented Starbucks is when
I've been in need of a wi-fi hotspot and a comfy chair to check out
something online. The ridiculous price and vile taste is the price of
admission.

 

Many of the The coffee places in NY have latched on to the Starbucks
pricing model. Even the local breakfast joints have significantly raised
their coffee prices. At least at Starbucks you get a comfortable place
to relax. If all I want i Internet, I have a portable WiFi hotspot.
Having said that, I don't think they have bad coffee. They also serve
excellent tea and hot chocolate. If I want a plain cup of coffee, I
think MacDonalds, has pretty good coffee.

 

I don't dispute your observation of its poor taste but it is amongst the
lowest caffeine content "real" coffee sold on UK high streets.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/h...-levels-in-your-espresso-scientists-urge.html

Depending on your point of view this is either good or bad.
Their cakes are overly sweet and pretty rubbish too.

Some hapless individual with liver disease managed to get a fatal dose
of caffeine by consuming a large number of Hero energy mints recently.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-24492833

A few others have bought unintentional lethal doses on the internet.

 

| Support your local espresso shop, and bakery, if you're lucky enough to
| have them.


I'm not. That's what I was saying. They've gone out
of business. I'm talking about something that used to
be very common: A quiet, spacious cafe with good coffee,
their own muffins, maybe sandwiches and desserts, where
people would go for the atmosphere. (With or without
espresso. I don't drink that myself. Nor do I drink the
half-milk, kiddie-coffee concoctions popularized by
Starbucks. I'd be happy with just good coffee.)

I live near Cambridge, Ma, which used to be one
of the best possible places for both cafes and people
watching. Now, most coffee shops here are Starbucks or
Pete's -- two chains populated by 20-30-somethings
focussed on their laptops; with overpriced, mediocre
coffee and inedible pastries. Much of the seating in
those places isn't even chairs. It's barstools, where
people perch, diddling their Facebook, doing their
homework, or doing *anything* else other than being
where they are.

I've noticed a new trend lately: Single-brew shops
with very expensive coffee from numerous countries,
brewed on the spot and tiny, overpriced,
ever-so-precious pastries. The clientele are the same
laptop-toting hipsters, [the women often in "yoga
pants" pantyhose and the men often "rugged dandies"
with neatly trimmed, 3-days-growth of whiskers] but
the product has been jazzed up. With Starbucks now
as pedestrian as Dunkin' Donuts, the single-brew shops
introduce a new level of manufactured sophistication
and "consumer choice". And for now, they're only
frequented by the hipsters who are "discerning" enough
to recognize the new hip, and who are willing to pay
$7 for a cup of coffee and a micro-muffin.

 

In general, since many coffees are roasted longer to get a bolder flavor
they will have less caffeine. the lighter roasts have more caffeine.
However, there are many other factors. it is not an absolute linear rule.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_roasting#Caffeine_content_by_roast_level>