For over a year now, Wi-Fi coffee shops have become a familiar spot for tech enthusiasts in Saigon. This has led to a phenomenon: a Wi-Fi coffee addiction. It’s not just about enjoying a good cup of coffee.
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A group of friends – Thư, Trang, and Duy brainstorming advertising ideas |
It’s not necessarily the music that draws people in. Individuals come to these coffee shops to work, socialize, and learn from each other, with many IT professionals present; the “smart working” method has become increasingly popular. Watching them with laptops and PDAs, engrossed in their coffee, one might think they are showing off, but that’s not the case…
Mr. Lâm Thế Phương is a regular at Wi-Fi coffee shop D. He visits five to six days a week during the morning, afternoon, and evening. Phương says: “This is a playground for those who love high technology. I am getting older and still adapting to new technology slowly. Here, the younger folks offer advice and guidance, which doesn’t feel awkward like learning in a classroom.”
Habits
Phương is a senior manager at Menu Life Insurance. In this role, he earns an average monthly income of “over twenty million VND” (around $850). This income allows him to comfortably enjoy a laptop or PDA, and coffee expenses are not a concern. However, his entry into this world began with his boss. He lamented: “He manages so many people and dozens of tasks daily but has everything organized. I don’t understand how he keeps track of appointments, meetings, reports… When I asked, I found out he uses a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). He inputs everything into it and never forgets.”
Thanks to the Wi-Fi coffee shop D, which has a boss very knowledgeable about PDAs, Phương ordered a Palm Treo 650 – considered one of the smartest PDAs in the world. Furthermore, to surpass his mentor, he also equipped himself with an IBM laptop. With such gadgets, Phương feels confident in managing his tasks and can comfortably “perform” at any renowned Wi-Fi coffee shop in Saigon.
Phương shared: “My house has two ‘lines’ (Internet connections); one from FPT and one from Saigontourist. At work, there are many computers connected to the Internet, but I can’t miss the experience of going to a Wi-Fi coffee shop. It’s strange; when I enter a shop without Wi-Fi, I feel incomplete and frustrated.” Once, he visited coffee shop M, one of the largest coffee shops in Saigon. The shop didn’t have Wi-Fi. He asked the owner about it. She said that installing it would be costly, and customers who stayed long would drink less, which could reduce revenue. He smiled and advised her: “Installing it would attract more IT customers. They often don’t stay long; sometimes they just come in to send an email for a few minutes and then leave. It would be highly convenient for them.” After some time, the owner installed Wi-Fi, and indeed, the customer count increased.
“I don’t understand how I manage to persuade people! – Phương remarked – Whatever I enjoy, others seem to want to try too. Just last night, I advised a friend working in Da Nang to buy a Treo for convenient Wi-Fi access. Sure enough, he called me at noon asking me to buy one for him, insisting it had to be brand new, and money was no object.”
“Office… Smart Working”
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Mr. Phương browsing the web |
Tech enthusiasts in Saigon are no strangers to Thắng “Wi-Fi,” the owner of coffee shop D. He spent 6-7 years in the “black market” for computers before shifting to selling PDAs, and now he runs a Wi-Fi coffee shop, even while still being a student. To this day, the shop still incurs a loss of 5-6 million VND per month, but he says “he enjoys maintaining it,” primarily to create a communal space for tech friends. He rarely leaves the shop. First, to sell coffee, and second, to protect the network. When it first opened, the network frequently crashed. Whenever he left the shop, his friends would call him back to fix it. After some investigation, he discovered that the network was being attacked by IT experts from competing coffee shops. He realized that ensuring network security for customers who come to socialize and work is no simple task.
Thắng “Wi-Fi” talks about a new work philosophy, a philosophy he learned from… his customers: “In the past decade, those who worked until 9-10 PM were considered diligent and capable. This was called ‘hard working.’ But now, those who can complete a day’s work in a morning are the smart ones, reserving evenings for leisure and outings. The term ‘smart working’ is now more common, especially in this era of technological explosion, where more individuals are embracing the ‘smart working’ approach.”
The person who taught Thắng this way of working is none other than Mr. Th., the head of the Vespa Club and his friends. If you visit the coffee shop, you don’t even need to step inside; just look for the vintage Vespa covered in countless signatures of famous people to know if he is present. Mr. Th. usually arrives at the shop at 10 AM and seldom leaves before 6-7 PM, checking emails, browsing the web, and exchanging work online… On some days, he stays until the shop closes. Mr. Th. runs a design and graphics company, so his work heavily depends on the internet. Previously, he had an impressive 17-inch Toshiba laptop, but now he rarely uses it. At the coffee shop, he borrows the shop’s computer for free, and each time he engages in “smart working,” he only orders two cups of coffee with a single option: black, no sugar.
L. is an architect who chooses the T coffee shop in District 1 as his “office” even though his company is based in District 5. Every morning, between 8 and 9 AM, he carries his laptop to work (his family thinks he is going to the office), but in reality, he sneaks into the coffee shop. Instead of picking a seat with a nice view or a bustling atmosphere, he seeks out the quietest corner. Another important task is finding an electrical outlet. Once he spots one, he sets up his laptop and gets to work. L. states: “I have many clients in the center. If there’s something to discuss, I invite them to the coffee shop, or it’s convenient for me to run over. All the work is already in my computer or online. Working in an office is just the same.” Since discovering Wi-Fi coffee shops, L. has developed two new habits: First, he no longer reads printed newspapers. Before, when he entered a shop, he would have to find the newspaper stand and grab a stack. Sometimes, if the shop was out of newspapers, he would buy some from a street vendor. Now, he doesn’t need to. Second, since entering Wi-Fi coffee shops, he finds traditional office work dull, lacking music and foot traffic; meanwhile, his creative work requires a lot of inspiration and “boosts.”
Friendship in the Wi-Fi Era
I met a group of three students from the Foreign Language and Information Technology School one afternoon. They looked simple, quiet, and didn’t have many tech gadgets. They were Minh Thư, Thùy Trang, and Bảo Duy. But don’t be fooled; they were discussing business. In front of them was a laptop, and they were searching through various art websites.
Thư said: “We’re planning to come up with an advertising idea. Here, we can discuss business while browsing the web.” Besides sipping coffee, they often visit the shop to access sites like zidean.com (a graphics site) or deviantart.com (a design site)… Duy remarked: “When I’m in a Wi-Fi coffee shop, I feel like I’m working, not just relaxing. The atmosphere and the professional people here motivate me more.”
Mr. Phương, the aforementioned “expert,” has also made friends and learned a lot from strangers at Wi-Fi coffee shops. Once, he was sitting at coffee shop P, one of the three most professional Wi-Fi shops in Saigon. Next to him was a guy using a Sony laptop and chatting on his mobile about a popular music program. After listening for a while, he easily introduced himself and mentioned that he knew some musicians.
The other guy modestly didn’t say much about himself but shared technological knowledge with Phương. After finishing their coffee, they cheerfully parted ways. Later, Phương saw a newspaper and recognized the man he had met at the shop. He was Q., a famous musician! It turns out he had the honor of sitting with a celebrity without even realizing it.
Phương acknowledged one thing: “It’s strangely easy to meet people at the coffee shop. I wonder if it’s because I sell insurance that I have a knack for conversation.” One memorable occasion was also at coffee shop P. He sat next to a man using an IBM T43 laptop. After a while, he leaned over to introduce himself and asked why the internet was slow or frequently disconnecting. The man happily responded, and the two exchanged a flurry of conversation. Not knowing how the other felt, the man soon handed him a mobile software hard drive to copy a program that cleans junk from computers. Phương praised him: “He didn’t look like a pro, yet he was so generous!”
The scene of customers in cafes showcasing their stylish gadgets is no longer a rarity. They have embraced a healthy lifestyle and a thirst for knowledge. There are just a few things to note: some come to the café to play games (the popular choice being “Legend of the Condor Heroes”); others prefer “coffee bait,” where some users go online to chat and seek companionship; or there are the “IT enthusiasts” who hang around the café, trying to make connections, entice customers, and then “charge a fee.” Interestingly, one café even offers a VIP wifi room, where it is very quiet and has lovely, refreshing staff. Regardless, the wifi itself is not to blame; it’s merely the users who access it.
XUÂN NGỌC CHỨC BINH
