Bennu Coffee in Austin has power strips hanging from the ceiling.
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Seen by 37signals on March 18 2010. There are 14 comments.
MC 18 Mar 10
Bennu is great, always chilled with good music.
Eric Falcao 18 Mar 10
Wow! So awesome to see our local coffee shop make SvN!
Bennu is host to so many Austin Rails developers: cafebedouins.com cheaptweet.com tweetriver.com bedouinlabs.com damonc.com prefinery.com mikeperham.com gelatodating.com gowalla.com
Brian Dainton 18 Mar 10
If you’re a coder, Bennu is the best coffee shop in Austin. Open 24 hours, 3 wifi access points, great access to power, and 7 distinct mochas. It’s where we go to get things done.
If you can find a table, that is. They are popular, so local dev entrepreneurs are frequently battling the University of Texas students for table space.
Nic 18 Mar 10
Does anybody go there just for coffee? It looks more like office space for freelancers than a coffe shop!
Dottie Hunt 18 Mar 10
The Georgia Tech Library has a similar setup. http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4007/4442705451_e09ea74baa_b.jpg
Bartek 18 Mar 10
Haha, just last night I noticed a similar thing at a coffee shop here. They placed their outlets up high on the ceiling, but I don’t think they were meant for use (no adapters hanging off them :))
Very cool.
MC 18 Mar 10
@Nic Yep, and the coffee is good. There is lots of seating outside too.
Forrest 18 Mar 10
I like a coffee shop being computer friendly. It looks like not all the sockets are above tables, so sadly I would constantly hit my head :)
S 18 Mar 10
That’s cool.
Are you allowed in there if you don’t have a Mac?
Stephanie Williams 18 Mar 10
Thanks for featuring our coffee shop on SvN!
Our power strips are actually on retractable extension cords in the ceiling so they can be pulled down for use or sent back into the ceiling when not in use. We also have outlets all along the walls, on our study bar, all over the outside patio, and underneath our main bar.
And we like to think our coffee is supurb! ;-)
Stephanie Williams Co-owner Bennu Coffee
Stephen Jenkins 18 Mar 10
My local coffeeshop just did the exact OPPOSITE of this. They plated over all the outlets in the shop. No power at all. The thinking is that you are only going to buy 1-2 drinks and that your battery should last you at least this long.
It’s been very controversial, most grad students have stopped coming. I’ve debated the move with the owner a few times, but I have to respect his stance. He’s worried about the shop becoming a computer lab with no sales and even less social interaction.
Still, it pains me to see the masses taking their money across the street to Panera – it would be nice to see some kind of creative solution (wifi codes on receipts, etc.) that would keep dollars in the community.
Rick 18 Mar 10
That looks like a building code violation waiting to happen.
Rishic 19 Mar 10
This looks terrible to me. If I walked into a coffee shop full of people peering at their screens I’d walk straight out again – what price the buzz of conversation? Stephen, lots of respect to the cafe owner who plated over his power outlets… must have been a difficult decision…
Chad 23 Mar 10
I see the motivation for places like this and the place that walled off outlets. In the end, folks will go to the coffee shop that suits them best.
If you are going to go one way, go all the way or don’t go at all. Kudos to both for taking a stand and sticking to it.
This discussion is closed.