<story><title>How coffee became a modern necessity</title><url>https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-coffee-became-a-modern-necessity-11585972861</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>keiferski</author><text>Before COVID happened, I was actually in the process of starting a new sort of meet-up site, aimed at solving this problem. My initial thought was to have an online discussion board but have mandatory monthly meet-ups in cities around the world. For example, in order to be a member of the site, you have to physically come to a meet-up once every six months. Often enough to become a part of the community, but not too much to feel like a burden.&lt;p&gt;The core idea is to take the best of the Internet discussion format and combine it with the strengths of an in-person community.&lt;p&gt;I’m certainly open to any suggestions or thoughts on the idea.</text></item><item><author>che_shirecat</author><text>What would it take to get this social aspect of cafes back?  Exclusivity?  No-smartphone rule?  Dedicated discussion times?  How do you envision us bringing this back while adapting to modern social norms?</text></item><item><author>keiferski</author><text>I hope that someday cafe culture makes a comeback. As much as I love sitting in a cafe working on my laptop, the current iteration of cafes is but a pale imitation of what they were in the past.&lt;p&gt;Revolutions were plotted, art movements invented, and history made in places like Cafe Central in Vienna. I recommend reading literature from the 1880s-1930s to get a sense of how important they were for the time period. &lt;i&gt;A Moveable Feast&lt;/i&gt; by Hemingway is a good start.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Coffee_culture&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Coffee_culture&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Coffeehouse&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Coffeehouse&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Café_Central&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Café_Central&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>tomlagier</author><text>There&amp;#x27;s a lovely thing that used to happen on Thursdays on r&amp;#x2F;sanfrancisco[1] - a fellow by the name u&amp;#x2F;jimmyjah would set up a spot at a bar and post on Reddit offering to buy any newcomers their first drink. It lead to a really lovely little community of stranger-Redditors hanging out weekly.&lt;p&gt;I think with openness, consistency, and just a tiny little push (a free drink), you can build a marvelous community.&lt;p&gt;1. &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.reddit.com&amp;#x2F;r&amp;#x2F;sanfrancisco&amp;#x2F;search&amp;#x2F;?q=It%27s%20thursday&amp;amp;restrict_sr=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.reddit.com&amp;#x2F;r&amp;#x2F;sanfrancisco&amp;#x2F;search&amp;#x2F;?q=It%27s%20thu...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>How coffee became a modern necessity</title><url>https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-coffee-became-a-modern-necessity-11585972861</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>keiferski</author><text>Before COVID happened, I was actually in the process of starting a new sort of meet-up site, aimed at solving this problem. My initial thought was to have an online discussion board but have mandatory monthly meet-ups in cities around the world. For example, in order to be a member of the site, you have to physically come to a meet-up once every six months. Often enough to become a part of the community, but not too much to feel like a burden.&lt;p&gt;The core idea is to take the best of the Internet discussion format and combine it with the strengths of an in-person community.&lt;p&gt;I’m certainly open to any suggestions or thoughts on the idea.</text></item><item><author>che_shirecat</author><text>What would it take to get this social aspect of cafes back?  Exclusivity?  No-smartphone rule?  Dedicated discussion times?  How do you envision us bringing this back while adapting to modern social norms?</text></item><item><author>keiferski</author><text>I hope that someday cafe culture makes a comeback. As much as I love sitting in a cafe working on my laptop, the current iteration of cafes is but a pale imitation of what they were in the past.&lt;p&gt;Revolutions were plotted, art movements invented, and history made in places like Cafe Central in Vienna. I recommend reading literature from the 1880s-1930s to get a sense of how important they were for the time period. &lt;i&gt;A Moveable Feast&lt;/i&gt; by Hemingway is a good start.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Coffee_culture&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Coffee_culture&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Coffeehouse&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Coffeehouse&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Café_Central&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Café_Central&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>filoleg</author><text>This sounds pretty clever, I have definitely never thought of this before, but I dig the idea a lot.&lt;p&gt;I genuinely hope the COVID situation isn&amp;#x27;t putting a nail on the coffin of implementation of this idea for you, and you will attempt it again once everything is back to normal.</text></comment>