It looks like mainstream society is starting to notice (a bit belatedly) that more and more folks are conducting business out of cafes and coffee shops. The San Francisco Chronicle reports:
A new breed of worker, fueled by caffeine and using the tools of modern technology, is flourishing in the coffeehouses of San Francisco. Roaming from cafe to cafe and borrowing a name from the nomadic Arabs who wandered freely in the desert, they’ve come to be known as “bedouins.”
That’s cool that they’ve adopted a special name and all, but the last time I checked, this was not new news.
Web workers all over the world, not just San Francisco, have been using coffee houses as mission control for their businesses for as long as Wi-Fi has been in existence.
And remember when folks used to write with pen and paper and old fashioned typewriters?
The Lost Generation was one of the most famous early bedouin tribes. American ex-patriots like Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry Miller and Ezra Pound were creating and collaborating in cafes in Paris and other parts of Europe in the early 1900’s.
The Lost Generation writers argued that they were not lost at all. They had found what they were looking for–a place where they could be free to create, to be left in peace, and to be amongst like-minded artists.
In one of my favorite books, A Moveable Feast, Hemingway explained the appeal of the cafe:
…The people that I liked and had not met went to the big cafes because they were lost in them and no one noticed them and they could be alone in them and be together. The big cafes were cheap then too, and all had good beer and the aperitifs cost reasonable prices that were clearly marked on the saucers that were served with them.
Yes, we love the allure of being together and alone at the same time in a crowd.
As for the “reasonable prices”, Hemingway has obviously never visited Starbucks ;-), but in comparison to buying a desk and chair and renting office space, 7 bucks for a cappuccino, a muffin and free Wi-Fi for the day seems like quite a deal.
This is a photo of The Dome, the cafe in Paris that was the hot spot for the Lost Generation writers.
From Paris Tempo Magazine:
The Dome was the heart of the American Literary Colony. It was where young writers came as soon as they arrived in Paris. It was where they left word when they were leaving. It was the place that created and disseminated gossip. It was a living newspaper for the American expatriate community.
We’ve actually one-upped Hemingway.
We virtual web workers have two places where we are free to create, to share news and gossip, to be left in peace, to be amongst like-minded thinkers, and to be together and alone in a crowd:
The neighborhood coffee house and the internet.
Originally posted on March 13, 2007 @ 4:45 am
Good writing here Sharon.
Though we’ve one-upped old Hem on place, there’s no question he’s got any 100 of us beat on the immortality of the work coming out of them.
Wireless tech, along with its wonders, has helped give birth to The Mediocre Generation. And of course, we argue that we are not mediocre at all…
Look forward to more of your stuff.
Sharon, GREAT blog post. These types of posts stimulate creativity, energy and passion.
Secondly, while I love my coffee house and wifi, I’m jealous of the face to face community that Hemingway and others were a part of. It’s always invigorating when people come out from behind their laptops and communicate in a face to face environment.
Hey guys,
Thanks so much for taking the time to read my post. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
*Robert–Oh, wow, I had no idea that we were being labeled the “Mediocre Generation”! That’s even worse sounding than the “Lost Generation!”.
Yes, Hem’s stuff is immortal, and he’s one of a kind. I wonder if the “Mediocre Generation” tag stems from the fact that internet tech and blogging have such a low barrier of entry. In comparison to the tons of folks who are online, there probably appears to be very few folks who are really creating groundbreaking, lasting stuff.
But, at The Dome, I bet there were tons of writers who spent every day working there, but who didn’t create anything on the level of Hemingway, or Fitzgerald, or Henry Miller. There were lots of mediocre writers in Hem’s time too, it’s just that they’ve been forgotten by now!:-)
One thing I believe in with the internet, is that the diamonds rise to the top. 100 years from now, people will look back on us and be able to pick out some creators whose work has immortality. Maybe you’ll be one of them…;-)
*David–Thanks so much for your kind words. I love reading/writing articles that make me feel connected to another era or a groups of creators from the past who I can identify with (even if I’m no where near their level ;-)). I also like combining tech with art and history. For some reason, I think those things go together.
At least in my eyes, the internet and blogging is not about tech– its about the same thing that the Lost Generation gang were about: finding a place where we can be with kindred souls, a place where we’re free to create and share ideas, a place were we can be together enough to collaborate, but alone enough to have peace and quiet when we want it.
Hemingway did have us beat on the face-to-face interaction. There is no substitution for that. Talking to a live human that we can see and touch can re-kindle the creative flame as much or more than reading at a thousand great blogs.
I hear ya–we all need to come out from behind our laptops more often!
Cheers,
Sharon
I’m with you, Sharon. Connecting in any manner with the greats of the lost is really exciting.
As for the mediocre label, I don’t like it, but it probably comes with the territory that numbers 55 million.
That’s so strange. There was a feature report about this very subject on in the weekend news edition here in Israel, right around the time this post and the article were posted.
Hmmm.. now I know where they got the idea ;)