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NYTimes writes trend piece abt how effing hipsters use laptops in coffee shops


From what I understand, ppl like to go to coffee shops, open up their Macbooks, then 'pretend to work.' They 'take over' an alt coffee shop that isn't Starbucks, then become 'regulars' and just go 2 prove that they 'srsly have their own small business/freelancing job' that requires 'intense focus.' Really feel like every1 should work in an office just so they feel 'repressed by society' and work harder/feel like slaves.

Anyways, some NYTimes writer did some 'trend piece' abt how ppl go to coffee shops to drink coffee and 'work' on the internet. Trying to really deconstruct the concept of 'The_Office' and how young ppl need creative, energetic zones 2 evolve in2 a modern entrepreneurial vibe.

On a day when the cafe Internet connection had already been down for four hours, and the toilet had been blocked for even longer, I thought I had seen these worker bees pushed to their limit. But I had underestimated them. Nothing could stir these people. They were not in New York; they were citizens of Laptopistan.

For some reason the author of this article created a fictional world called LAPTOPISTAN 2 describe life inside of this coffee shop. Feels like this is some sort of high school journalistic tactic or something. Really took it to the next level acting like he was on a safari/expedition:

I was an interloper among them, an anthropologist of sorts, sent to untangle their odd society, to understand their mores and unwritten rules. How did the natives interact? How did the government function? What was the economy like in this land of bottomless cups and table hoggers? And what, oh what, were they all writing?

I was, admittedly, a profoundly skeptical observer. Though I had been a freelance writer for the last eight years, I had always worked at home, clad in pajamas and brewing my own fuel rather than paying $3 for someone to make pretty designs in my caffeinated foam. Whenever my wife suggested that I get out of the house, maybe take my laptop to a cafe, I shot back: “Real freelancers don’t work in coffee shops. It’s just unemployed hipsters and their unpublished novels, or screenplays, or Facebook stati.”


Here is some 'poetic' chunk where they say 'ppl were staring in2 their Macbook screens yall!'

Laptops had colonized every flat surface. No one uttered a word; people just stared into screens, expressionless. It felt like that moment in a horror movie when the innocent couple stumbles into a house filled with hibernating zombies, and they listen, in terror, as the floorboard creaks.

Really wonder if this person really 'sees the world' like this or if they are just 'pretending 2' 4 the sake of 'writing a beautiful article abt the state of the modern world.'

Wonder if I can open up a coffee shop called LAPTOPISTAN and transform it in2 a perfect microsociety/money-making scheme.

Here is another 'trying 2 hard' paragraph where the journalistbro talks abt how it is s000 hard to get thru the 'jungle of power cables'.

Entering Laptopistan is a task in itself. The floor presents an obstacle course of power cables snaking their way around coffee cups, over chairs, and around table legs, eventually finding a home in one of two power strips that look as though they came from a Soviet coal refinery. Whenever a plug is inserted, the outlet sparks, and certain movements can cause all the plugs on a given strip to simultaneously eject.


Glad I have a Macbook instead of a lame ass PC:

A quick glance around shows I have brought my laptop, a month-old MacBook Pro, to its nesting ground. Diversity here means the odd white MacBook or old black PowerBook scattered amid the silver MacBook Pros. Throughout the week I will see only a handful of PCs, each looking sadly out of place, like they have arrived at a black-tie affair in a corduroy blazer.

Here are just a few more dumb sentences that say LAPTOPISTAN:

Laptopistan’s is an entrepreneurial economy, driven by solitary thinkers.

LAPTOPISTAN

My long-held notion that Laptopistan’s citizens were just sitting around e-mailing other writers in other cafes around the world dissipated as I got to know the MacBook Pro owners around me. Sure, there were aspiring screenwriters, novelists and people updating Twitter...


LAPTONIA

Laptopistan provides structure, and freelancers, like children, secretly crave structure. You come to work, for two or four or eight hours, and you take comfort in the knowledge that everyone else is there to work as well. There’s a silent social pressure to it all.

LAPTOPPED STATES OF LAPTOPICA

LAPTOPBROS

MOST Laptopistanis — Laptopistanites? Laptopistanians? — at Atlas are in their 20s, 30s or early 40s, split evenly between men and women. The dress is casual, with both sexes wearing T-shirts, sweaters and jeans, though a few women seem dressed for “work” with button-down blouses, blazers, even a dress or two. Most Laptopistanis work alone, though occasionally I spotted a group collaborating at a corner table. Socially, Laptopistan is a conservative society; outward displays of emotion are frowned upon. Most people hide behind their screens.

Really want to learn what it is like 2 go 2 work in a coffee shop every day instead of in an office. Wish I could be a creative entrepreneur and 'make my own schedule.'

The article closes by saying that LAPTOPISTAN created a perfect society because the journalist bro 'watched some other dude's laptop when he got up 2 take a piss':

After an hour or so, the guy next to me got up to go to the washroom, turned toward his laptop and looked at me.

With a nod, I completed the transaction. When he walked away, I smiled. It was not a big smile; most likely it was barely visible to anyone looking beyond my screen. Precisely the secret smile that citizens of Laptopistan allow themselves when no one’s looking.


Sorta want to move to Laptopistan.
Do u think 'ppl working in coffee shops' is a relevant trend?
Are ppl who claim to 'work' in coffee shops 'full of shit'?
Do ppl in coffee shops need 2 'shut the eff up' so that I can focus on facebook/twitter?
Is this the opposite of a 'hipster bashing' article, like some sort of 'hipster justice' piece where they 'correct' stereotypes?
Do u work on ur laptop 2 do rlly important stuff?
Is Laptopistan 'the perfect' society?

Comments

Faggot's picture

First

First

Charlie Robinson's picture

Tell me, how does being first

Tell me, how does being first make you feel? I'm trying to understand this gripping compulsion that Hipster Runoff readers have to comment 'first' on every article. It's very interesting.

My Brother Can't Cum's picture

My brother can't grow a beard

My brother can't grow a beard so he is 2 afraid to go to coffee shops to look at Alt gayz and titz.

He is 59.

@_justvibing's picture

+1

+1

Ice-T's picture

-1

-1

bros before hoes's picture

seconds

seconds

bros before hoes's picture

fuck. fourths

fuck. fourths

brory 's picture

h8 trend pieces based on

h8 trend pieces based on manufactured/nonexistent "trends"

Bro Namath's picture

trend    /trɛnd/ Show

trend
   /trɛnd/ Show Spelled[trend] Show IPA
–noun
1.
the general course or prevailing tendency; drift: trends in the teaching of foreign languages; the trend of events.
2.
style; vogue: the new trend in women's apparel.

If there's that many people doing the same thing it's a trend.

brory 's picture

yeah but I think "trend"

yeah but I think "trend" usually implies newness. ppl have been taking over starbuxes 4 years

Fyodor Brostoevsky's picture

Whey to be tots relevant

Whey to be tots relevant nytimes.

Broack Brobama's picture

can't wait for the

can't wait for the 'Laptopistan' avatar yall

Brononymous's picture

only 5 years late lol

only 5 years late
lol

BROtopistan's picture

all they do is read

all they do is read HRO....effing hipsters

brononymous's picture

wonder if they are at risk of

wonder if they are at risk of being annexed by the rival city-state of iPadistan.

Brononymous's picture

+1

+1

totally verified :(not verified)'s picture

Hipster Runoff Blog Radio

Hipster Runoff Blog Radio Sirius XMU 11/29/10
Girls - Heartbreaker *last played 11/15/10
Best Coast - Summer Mood
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Houses - Soak it Up *last played 11/8/10
Crystal Castles - Not In Love (Ft. Robert Smith) *last played 11/15/10
Small Black - Photojournalist *last played 11/8/10
Twin Shadow - Castles In The Snow *last played 10/30/10
Les Sins - Lina *last played 11/22/10
Chromeo - Don't Walk Away *last played 11/15/10
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Phoenix - Too Young
Postal Service - Brand New Colony
Ladyhawke - Magic (Classixx Version)
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totally verified :(not verified)'s picture

that link is dead here's the

that link is dead
here's the working link
http://www.zshare.net/audio/83583369a1ee3bd3/

H.D. Broreau's picture

heard sarah palin can see

heard sarah palin can see laptopistan from her front porch

Witch Rapist's picture

so psyched for her 2k11

so psyched for her 2k11 release.

orianadiggity's picture

I din't go to school bc i

I din't go to school bc i woke up late, i'm so bored [via wavves]

H.D. Broreau's picture

you could always try smokin

you could always try smokin some dank in a sweet ass organic apple pipe, bro

Brononymous's picture

And then you can watch

And then you can watch iCarly.

Im not sure what im doing, just want to b authentic's picture

damn my laptop looks like

damn my laptop looks like everyone else's and i thought i was original (alt). Goin to brainstorm for my first novel, l8'rs yall. Eight O'clock 100%pure, eff off bitcheezz.

Brononymouse's picture

i work at my freaking bedroom

i work at my freaking bedroom in a comfortable chair, and i make my own coffee, dammit. no need for these shenanigans. gonna take a chill pill and cUNTinue.

Brononymous's picture

really enjoyed this one, alt

really enjoyed this one, alt report robot. effing sleighed that shit

The Needle Drop's picture

ALL DEM LAPPYS!

ALL DEM LAPPYS!

lol's picture

'stati' - seriously? how

'stati' - seriously? how pretentious can you be

ee's picture

went to starbucks the other

went to starbucks the other day and it looked like the apple store

Kurt Bronnegut Jr's picture

1/2 of comments here probly

1/2 of comments here probly made by laptopistonians. Get a life "hipsters" stop sitting around reading some lame "blog" trying to be first commenter in order to have a little bit of "self esteem"

@_justvibing's picture

damn

damn

USAgirl's picture

jelly bc no firsty?

jelly bc no firsty?

brother james's picture

killin it alt bot loved this

killin it alt bot

loved this

brother james's picture

killin it alt bot loved this

killin it alt bot

loved this

SoAndSo's picture

'NowPlaying': 'I be I be I be

'NowPlaying': 'I be I be I be on that 'Runoff' shit. Get that lappytoppie, I be drinking coffee shit.' - Jason Seaver's son ft. Nicki Minaj

carles barkley's picture

just a guess, but kurt

just a guess, but kurt bronnegut jr is prob unchill (via im an overweight early 30s programmer that reads HRO b/c im in charge of the firewall at white collar corp job)

greatonfallon's picture

say laptoptistan five times

say laptoptistan five times fast.

Raging Bro's picture

good job, altreport bro.

good job, altreport bro. guess 'students doing homework' on laptops just doesnt fit this NYT BuzzTrend so they had to pretend they dont get it.. 'it's a crazy changing world out there, you need to keep informed via NYT'

Nahidiot's picture

macbooks r soooooooo

macbooks r soooooooo mainstream

Bromeo's picture

Laptopistan is becoming too

Laptopistan is becoming too mainstream...I'm relocating.

Hypno Bro'd's picture

Think we should totes revive

Think we should totes revive the ancient custom of writing our memoirs on napkins while we pretend to read Tolstoy.

elektrowave's picture

eff apple, trying way way too

eff apple, trying way way too hard 2 be cool in their ads

elektrowave's picture

also, weren't there articles

also, weren't there articles about bros sipping coffee in cafés while doing some shitty web design job like 5 years ago? or was that only in germany?

HRO Reference Meme's picture

That journalistbro should be

That journalistbro should be pantsed by a Laptopistian.

Slacker Lake's picture

buxy is hyping 'free wi fi'.

buxy is hyping 'free wi fi'. Wow, thx.

Spider Man Bro's picture

Hipsters are just lame posers

Hipsters are just lame posers trying to be different. Fucking kooks.

BeachSloth's picture

They got a good picture of

They got a good picture of me. I'm happy to be photographed by the NYTimes.

lmaonade's picture

that looks like a lot of fun!

that looks like a lot of fun!

Captain Crushin' it's picture

macbooks are still considered

macbooks are still considered alt? is this article from 2006?

Brossian's picture

There's no even such word as

There's no even such word as "stati". Effing douchebag.

Hung Fa Lo's picture

I go coffeeshops to get away

I go coffeeshops to get away from the damn Interwebz for a while.

Fuckin' hipsters, how do they work?

contents's picture

happy my dell latitude d800

happy my dell latitude d800 lappie still even works (via reloading windows twice).

4ever relegated to starbucks b/c of being pc and not mac.

/sad.

jvac's picture

its ok contents, nonmacs are

its ok contents, nonmacs are now alt and macs are now mainstream. ur experiences loading windows makes u a more interesting person/keut computer nerd/person who can assist me with my wireless problems. mac ppl dont kno how to vibe that way (via not being able to replace their own computer parts). keep riding ur dell waves.

Broby Dick's picture

NYTYMES manufactures war in

NYTYMES manufactures war in Laptopistan

Brononymous's picture

laptop + couch + coffee pot+

laptop + couch + coffee pot+ shitty news cycle = 1/3 the price

Brotholomew Cubbins's picture

I only bring my laptop to a

I only bring my laptop to a coffee shop if i know i can still view porn and it not be blocked.
sux tho cause i have a pc and porn fux that shit up cause i don’t believe in firewalls - like to
feel the consequences of my actions. when i get a macbook from sneakin a vid next time i bone
and sellin it to an amateur porn site for 2000 dollars im gonna watch lots of raunchy porn in
coffee shops without porn bloks. maybe we can organize a meetup and instead of coffee shops
filled with people doing lame shit on their computers everyone will be vibin out to porn together
and trading favorite sites. LAPTOPISTAN watch out! My utopia has been visonized and it will be
crumble your empire of lameness. also we’ll bring lots of cheap alcohol to put in our coffees so
maybe after lookin at porn all day in this coffee shop i’ll be hornie and drunk and be able to ‘go home’
with a homely lookin gurl and get it on.

trollolloll 's picture

feeling u bro...

feeling u bro...

Brononymous's picture

enjoyed this comment.

enjoyed this comment.

lawlzkat's picture

the name LAPTOPISTAN

the name LAPTOPISTAN definitely gives off unchill vibes, like its hiding mad terrorist agencies... like all the other countries ending in -stan.

i think it's a place/country breeding terrorist groups and it's right under our noses.

b's picture

nyt's h8 u for this

nyt's h8 u for this

Mexican Winter's picture

NEED MORE STATII

NEED MORE STATII

Jason's picture

Laptopistan is an escape from

Laptopistan is an escape from the dark depressing dungeons of Apartmentia governed by the over taxing, under productive Roomateous.

Try working in your apartment programming for 8 hours a day for 2 years. You would eat your dog and probably forget how to speak english. Laptopistan provides the necessary caffeine to transform ideas into product very quickly. There is a social pressure of getting shit done sometimes. It def helps me bang out a few hundred lines of code. Didnt mean to bother anyone by having some coffee and getting some work done.

Brononymous's picture

All dem lappys, ripe for the

All dem lappys, ripe for the taking. If a cadre of young thugs burst in and start swiping, who's gonna stop them?

jvac's picture

rite? if i were a hoodrat id

rite? if i were a hoodrat id prolly rob a starbucks for all the sweet computers/cellphones/rich people jewlery etc

Brononymous's picture

The enterprising young scally

The enterprising young scally thugs in SF have already done so. They burst into Philz on 24th St and abscond with the Macbook Pro goods. Hipsters do nothing but cry into their foamed lattes.

Hella Chill Bro's picture

This is fodder for an ok go

This is fodder for an ok go song

Annie Clark's Black Bush's picture

I bought a MacintoshBook

I bought a MacintoshBook Professional so I could surf porn without getting a virus.

Neologism's picture

Pretty sure most

Pretty sure most Laptopistanis prefer to call it Laptopia. At least all the hipsters down here in Nashville seem to treat it that way.

David Sux's picture

I HATE that this guy turned

I HATE that this guy turned in his high school senior farewell essay and got it published in the NYTimes. Rage.

Blog-Haüs Blondies's picture

so in post-irony Laptopistani

so in post-irony Laptopistani does everyone have "corduroy" lappies?

Also beware you N3V3R know when Julian Assangi might cyber 9/11 Laptopistani and expose your awful poetry. N3VER 4GET.

Brononymous's picture

How the fux did he know the

How the fux did he know the PC users weren't really using Ubuntu? I bought a "PC" Laptop and installed Ubuntu on it. ME>LameBook'rs

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