• The Los Angeles Times, Tuesday, August 10, 2010 1:08 PM

Complicating matters for growing legions of virtual workers, coffee shops are increasingly taking Wi-Fi off the menu, according to The Los Angeles Times. "Coffee shops were the retail pioneers of Wi-Fi, flipping the switch to lure customers," the paper reports. "But now some owners are pulling the plug. They're finding that Wi-Fi freeloaders who camp out all day nursing a single cup of coffee are a drain on the bottom line. Others want to preserve a friendly vibe and keep their establishments from turning into 'Matrix'-like zombie shacks where people type and don't talk."

Also, rather than pacify shop owners, Starbucks now offers free Wi-Fi and has made the service seem less attractive to many. What's more, the trend is hardly limited to the West Coast. Driven in part by high unemployment rates, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that the honeymoon between laptops owners and the coffee shops they love is officially over. "In New York," it wrote, "the trend is accelerating among independents."

Read the whole story at The Los Angeles Times »