I sip, therefore I am: Author studies life in coffee shops
I sip, therefore I am: Author studies life in coffee shops
London: A cup of coffee is just a drink. But a frappuccino is an experience. So believes Bryant Simon, a historian who is searching for the meaning of modern life amid the round tables and comfy sofas of Starbucks coffee shops. Simon, who teaches at Philadelphia’s Temple University, thinks that by spending time at Starbucks—observing the teenage couples and solitary laptop-users, the hurried office workers and busy baristas—he can learn what it means to live and consume in the age of globalisation. “What are we drinking, and what does it say about who we are?” Simon asked during a recent research trip to London. His research has taken him to 300 Starbucks in six countries for a caffeine-fueled opus titled ‘Consuming Starbucks’ that’s due for publication in 2008. Simon, whose last book, Boardwalk of Dreams, was a study of Atlantic City, New Jersey, estimates he has spent 12 hours a week in coffee shops for more than a year. “I try to limit myself to two to three coffees a day,” he said. He is one of several academics studying a type of 21st century cafe culture—Italian coffee in an American package—that has spread rapidly around the world. Founded in Seattle in 1971, Starbucks Corp now has 11,000 outlets in 37 countries, including 500 in Tokyo. The company expects to open 1,800 new stores this year and aims eventually to have 30,000 outlets, half of them outside the US. British historian Jonathan Morris said that even in Britain—a stalwart bastion of tea drinking where there are now almost 500 Starbucks stores—the chain has become entrenched in daily life. While British coffee consumption lags far behind most other European nations, sales of “premium” coffee drinks like lattes and cappuccinos are on the rise. “I’m not sure how much Starbucks is American any more for British customers,” said Morris, a University of Hertfordshire professor who is leading a research project called ‘The Cappuccino Conquests’ about the global spread of Italian coffee. Starbucks and other coffee houses, Simon believes, fill “some kind of deep desire for connection with other people.” But unlike the coffee houses of 18th century London or the bohemian java dens of 1950s New York, “Starbucks makes sure you can be alone when you’re out if you really need to be,” he said. “You get the feeling you’re out in public, but you don’t need to talk to anyone.” Simon’s research has made him finely attuned to the many varieties of the Starbucks customer, from the twentysomething female friends at a nearby table to the middle-aged man hunched over his laptop computer. “This kind of guy is renting space,” said Simon, a boyish 44-year-old who visited 25 Starbucks during four days in the British capital. “He bought a cup of coffee in order to have some space. These two women in front of us—where else can women meet in urban settings? I was at a Starbucks up the street, and there were kids downstairs making out.” Simon believes Starbucks succeeds by “selling comfort” in an anonymous, often dislocating world. He says he has lost track of the number of times people have told him that when they traveled to a strange country, “the first thing I did when I got off the plane was go to Starbucks.” He said, “There’s a deep sense of unpredictability in the modern world, and what Starbucks provides a lot of people is predictability.” However, there are regional variations. Starbucks introduced green tea frappuccinos in Taiwan and Singapore in 2001. They proved so popular, they’re now on the American menu. AP
(Times of India/13th April 2006/page 28)
London: A cup of coffee is just a drink. But a frappuccino is an experience. So believes Bryant Simon, a historian who is searching for the meaning of modern life amid the round tables and comfy sofas of Starbucks coffee shops. Simon, who teaches at Philadelphia’s Temple University, thinks that by spending time at Starbucks—observing the teenage couples and solitary laptop-users, the hurried office workers and busy baristas—he can learn what it means to live and consume in the age of globalisation. “What are we drinking, and what does it say about who we are?” Simon asked during a recent research trip to London. His research has taken him to 300 Starbucks in six countries for a caffeine-fueled opus titled ‘Consuming Starbucks’ that’s due for publication in 2008. Simon, whose last book, Boardwalk of Dreams, was a study of Atlantic City, New Jersey, estimates he has spent 12 hours a week in coffee shops for more than a year. “I try to limit myself to two to three coffees a day,” he said. He is one of several academics studying a type of 21st century cafe culture—Italian coffee in an American package—that has spread rapidly around the world. Founded in Seattle in 1971, Starbucks Corp now has 11,000 outlets in 37 countries, including 500 in Tokyo. The company expects to open 1,800 new stores this year and aims eventually to have 30,000 outlets, half of them outside the US. British historian Jonathan Morris said that even in Britain—a stalwart bastion of tea drinking where there are now almost 500 Starbucks stores—the chain has become entrenched in daily life. While British coffee consumption lags far behind most other European nations, sales of “premium” coffee drinks like lattes and cappuccinos are on the rise. “I’m not sure how much Starbucks is American any more for British customers,” said Morris, a University of Hertfordshire professor who is leading a research project called ‘The Cappuccino Conquests’ about the global spread of Italian coffee. Starbucks and other coffee houses, Simon believes, fill “some kind of deep desire for connection with other people.” But unlike the coffee houses of 18th century London or the bohemian java dens of 1950s New York, “Starbucks makes sure you can be alone when you’re out if you really need to be,” he said. “You get the feeling you’re out in public, but you don’t need to talk to anyone.” Simon’s research has made him finely attuned to the many varieties of the Starbucks customer, from the twentysomething female friends at a nearby table to the middle-aged man hunched over his laptop computer. “This kind of guy is renting space,” said Simon, a boyish 44-year-old who visited 25 Starbucks during four days in the British capital. “He bought a cup of coffee in order to have some space. These two women in front of us—where else can women meet in urban settings? I was at a Starbucks up the street, and there were kids downstairs making out.” Simon believes Starbucks succeeds by “selling comfort” in an anonymous, often dislocating world. He says he has lost track of the number of times people have told him that when they traveled to a strange country, “the first thing I did when I got off the plane was go to Starbucks.” He said, “There’s a deep sense of unpredictability in the modern world, and what Starbucks provides a lot of people is predictability.” However, there are regional variations. Starbucks introduced green tea frappuccinos in Taiwan and Singapore in 2001. They proved so popular, they’re now on the American menu. AP
(Times of India/13th April 2006/page 28)
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