Its one reason I hate cafes in America, its full of people working on laptops, its a horrible atmosphere. As for campuses I'm surprised you're allowed to hang out there all day. Libraries in NYC are mostly for homeless people.
And this is probably me getting old but I don't know how people can spend hours hunched over a laptop in café seating, as opposed to an ergonomic office chair and monitor at eye level.
Ask any orthopedist, it catches up to them. We can all buffer it for a certain amount of time, but anybody who does this for a long time will develop issues.
That doesn't even sound like coffee shop is the right description, that's an office that sells coffee.
I realised I was having posture issues with extended laptop use at approximately age 23 or so.
No they aren’t that’s ridiculous.
What, in your opinion, should people be doing in cafes on weekday afternoons?
Not that students don't meet friends on afternoons to go for coffee, but it is rare. Especially when meeting somewhere else for free is, well, free.
People don't pay for a coffee nowadays, they pay for a place to sit and use the wifi