Not long ago, someone coined an apt portmanteau neologism,
i.e. coffice, as a term for a new wave of pragmatic real estate
reform. Amid the plethora of new traditional office spaces,
many in metallic and glacial high rises with minimalist design,
there has evolved the neighborhood coffeehouse as a work
space This phenomenon has occurred primarily because, in
addition to a variety of espresso drinks, teas and other
beverages, as well as assorted pastries and sandwiches, most
coffeehouses provide unlimited and free wi-fi with their
variable and instant inputs of caffeine.
Most of those who employ “coffices” also have home office
spaces, but the need for privacy becomes inevitably frequently
overridden for a change of work environment in a friendly and
populated place where as the old TV show song used to say,
“Everyone knows your name.”
Nor is the coffice only a site to display the skills of personal
typing on a computer. More successful coffeehouses provide
soft chairs and small sofas amenable to conversations,
meetings and small events. Many customers wear earphones,
so total silence is not expected, although loud noise is not
tolerated. There is often low level and pleasant background
music.
Writers are ineluctably drawn to coffices. Perhaps the
long-awaited "great American novel" will be written in one.
Dress is informal. Ties are rare.
Most of all, the price is right. One holds a work space for the
cost of a cappuccino, latte or a cup of green tea. Electric sockets
are available for no cost to drive various computers, i-pads,
i-phones and even small printers. Rest rooms are nearby, and
in neighborhood coffices there is often free parking.
How long the coffice will endure and prosper in the business
marketplace is unknowable. It emerged rather suddenly and
inevitably a few years ago as the coffeehouse phenomenon
appeared to replace the neighborhood bar. The coffice is not
for everyone, but it does now exist for more and more younger
persons (and some older ones, too) as the world turns so digital
that we no longer often know where the rapid changes are
taking us.
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Copyright (c) 2015 by Barry Casselman. All rights reserved.
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