[OfSanguineFire]

Starbucks and similar chains tend to have flat walls without any sound dampening, making them extremely loud, and also their furniture is intentionally designed to merely look comfy, while becoming painful to stay in for long. Even if they don't have a policy (like many independent cafes in Europe now do) of sending a waitress around to politely nudge you to order more or get out, they are not satisfying places to meet up with friends for hours like the traditional Central European cafe of yore.

[vladvasiliu]

A different thing I've seen around Paris is that "traditional cafés" still do exist, with comfy seating and everything, but many explicitly have a "no laptops" policy (complete with signs and everything). Most of them aren't even particularly busy during the day.

Actually, the "cafés" with the most people on laptops around me are Starbucks.

[almatabata]

Do you know why they put up that no laptop rule? Is it to avoid people working or studying there for too long?

[flemhans]

Yes exactly that. Many also used to boast about how they did not have WiFi, although people's own cellphone connections are putting an end to that trend.

[vladvasiliu]

I've always seen the big "NO WIFI" signs as a "polite" way of saying "you're not welcome to work from here".

[vladvasiliu]

I have no idea, I've never actually been in any of those places, just noticed the signs walking by.

I know that establishments like this sometimes don't like people hanging around for too long without buying stuff, so it could be the reason that people would just get a coffee and stay all day. But this is just speculation on my part.