racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

I’ve had it with these establishments pretending to be upscale cafés or coffee shops. It seems that everywhere there’s a supposedly quiet and comfortable café where you can find a quiet spot to lounge in and perhaps get some work done via the WiFi network (which ain’t free anyway!). But alas! People always manage to make it so noisy with their useless chatter.

I’m at Starbucks right now, and it sounds like a frickin’ high school cafeteria (not that I didn’t have fond memories of my ol’ high school cafeteria–mmm, food!).

My point is that these establishments are ideally where people go to jumpstart mornings with their daily dose of caffeine, or relax after a day’s work, or even do work itself (I call WiFi-enabled cafes my satellite offices).

Or are libraries the only quiet places you can find these days?

I’m all right with the occasional meetings and chit-chat; these are generally productive conversations. But kids these days–they seem to feel so at home with these establishments that they generally tend to be unmindful of the rest of the world with their screams and rambunctious banter. Yes, screams. And rambunctious banter.

And by kids, I mean college-aged or probably recent-entrants to the workforce (a.k.a., “hell”). Hey, I’m still in my mid-twenties and I can say that more or less I try to act a bit more maturely when I’m in public (okay, I drool sometimes and ogle when I see cool gadgets!).

Two words for you people: grow up! And why not try to patronize some of the establishment’s goods for a change? Don’t just sit there. Go buy something. These cafés are not there for free table space.

I think this is the norm in my country, or perahaps in my metropolis. I hear people are usually more, umm, civilized in other parts of the world.

That’s why I usually bring along my personal Digital Noise Reduction System ™. My good set broke a couple of weeks back, though.

Or it’s probably just me. Sorry–just ranting here!

It’s “Web 2.0″ talk again, and I’m pretty sure some of you are squirming in your seats over this catchphrase, which seems to be hurting your ears (and eyes) at every mention.

In essence, I think the social aspect of Web 2.0 is not all the democratization of the Web it’s touted to be (as I have mentioned time and again). And I write my thoughts on ForeverGeek.

You may be able to successfuly market your brand using social networks and tools. But this is still essentially a hit-or-miss proposition. Successful branding via an organic manner (i.e. simple word of mouth) is quite diffcult to achieve unless you have a truly cutting-edge product or service.