teabowl

Starbucks has had these for a few months now: insulated cups that are made to look just like their regular disposable paper cups. The only thing it’s missing is a brown cardboard sleeve. I’m not completely sure what attracted me to this, but when I was in the market for another insulated cup and found myself at Starbucks, this was the obvious choice. I think I like the irony of it, and the unabashed branding. Like Microsoft in its company store, Starbucks has figured out how to make me want to pay for things featuring its brand.

Maybe I should be more conciously opposed to all this. There’s a fine line between irony and brand credulity… maybe I should get something from Pylones instead? When I lose this one…

I’m sure everyone else knows about this already, but I’m so delighted that I just had to ‘report’ on it anyway :)

Starbucks Canada is offering 2 hours of free wireless on their Bell Hotspots for Starbucks Card customers who have registered their Starbucks Cards. So not only do you get free soy milk and/or flavour shots if you register your Starbucks Card, but you can also spend a delightful two hours working/surfing at Starbucks if, like me today, you find yourself with an unexpected couple of hours away from your desk between meetings and don’t want to cough up the exhorbitant Bell Hotspot fees.

Apparently, Starbucks is introducing a Stabucks Rewards program this fall, and the free wireless offer will be transitioned into that – I wonder if you’ll have points to spend on wifi access?

Anyway, go get yourself a grande soy latte and some free Internet while it lasts.

While I’m typically a big Starbucks fan, a devoted (some might say slavish) follower of the McDonalds of internationally standardized, excellent coffee-to-go, I never buy their beans or ground coffee for home. I get my home supplies from Whole Foods Market, in keeping with my objective to consume more organic things – and also, quite simply, because Whole Foods’ coffee is much, much better than Starbucks’.

This begs the question: why can’t Starbucks sell ground coffee that tastes good at home? Admittedly, I’m a snob and I have high expectations. Here in Toronto, there’s enough on offer in terms of coffee (organic, fair trade, micro-roasted on the premises, etc.), and it all costs more or less the same, so it’s not necessary to buy beans from Starbucks.

This week, as the result of an embarrassing lack of planning (or an unawareness of the dire state of my coffee supply), I ended up getting some Starbucks ground coffee, sort of at the last minute. ‘Buying’ isn’t quite accurate, because a kind colleague had given me a Starbucks Christmas gift pack containing a small bag of coffee beans and a gift card. To get it ground, I went back, bought a second bag, and had the baristas grind it all up for me (who, incidentally, appeared to be scared of their industrial grinder – funny given that they handle high-pressure coffee makers all day long).

But, the truth is: at home, the coffee just isn’t anywhere near as good as it is when Starbucks brews it up for you. Here are some theories to explain it all:

1. Starbucks uses different beans/blends for its own brews in-store.
2. Starbucks has better/different brewing equipment. Or better water. Or those baristas really know what they’re doing.
3. The packaged experienced of asking for a “grande mild,” being asked, “Do you need room for cream or milk?” and getting a steaming paper cup with the brown sleeve actually creates much of the value of the experience, and that’s what you’re really paying $2.00+ for. The flavour is in fact secondary when it’s embedded into the experience.

I’m not sure which one it is, but I’ll admit that the third one seems most likely to me. I prefer to think of it not as a critique of globalization or a conspiracy theory, but rather a kind of postmodern irony that I joyfully choose to engage in several times per week :)

Recently observed at a Starbucks inside a Chapters (sorry for the crappy Blackberrycam pic). There’s practically nobody in this picture who’s not using a laptop. It’s a little puzzling and disorienting: there used to be a time when I would have thought this was really cool. You know, wireless network access, everybody collaborating or telecommuting (or just hanging out with their buddies on Messenger :)

These days, these people strike me as a little… I don’t really know what word to use. It’s just a really far cry from what the Viennese café society or the salon were meant to be – public spaces (or, in the case of the salon, invitation-only spaces) to hang out and debate. I somehow feel they should rather be talking to each other… but of course there are few suburban scenarios where that would happen :)

Spending time in a McCoffee shop staring at a laptop screen seems a little sad when you think about what a coffee shop represented about 100 years ago.

And I don’t mean to come across as all Luddite here – I’ve done it too. Although I’ve always resented being ripped off for wifi access.

And, well, at least the two in the foreground appear to be pointing animatedly at their laptop screen. Wonder what they’re talking about about. Maybe the next big web 2.0 startup :P