Something has gone wrong.

Its not news that Starbucks have been walling up their power connections of late however, my favorite location tucked inside a building off Vanderbuilt & 43rd Avenue in New York City had yet to be effected, until today.  I gather the columns that are part of the foundation for the building (where the outlets are located) are paid for by Starbucks, perhaps not but not worth an argument with the manager who advised me of the new policies on power and food consumption.

When in the area I usually stop by and sometimes bring a sandwich as much of what Starbucks has to offer does not conform to my diet, I do purchase their teas and coffee's and as such don't feel as I am squatting in their space.  In fact, the company has encouraged this behavior over the past several years, or at least with respect to food ignored it, at least in New York City where people might spend hours conducting business, surfing the web or just hanging out, why the sudden shift?  It's the cost of revenue lost per seat and not the cost of electricity.

The cost of electricity is nominal (the average cost of electricity in 2010 in the U.S. is 10 cents per kilowatt-hour.) and the company has implemented 258,000 LED and CFL bulbs in the U.S. and Canada saving the company millions of dollars, these savings could offset the cost of people plugging in their devices.

From: Starbucks 2009 Year in Review Report

Its really unfortunate that Starbucks has taken this about face.  Many freelancers, entrepreneur's find the service of great benefit to their start-ups or soho businesses and perhaps other businesses will step in and fill the void though its hard to match the ubiquity of having over 170 locations in Manhattan.

With the news today that the company has released a mobile app just hope you don't have to charge your SmartPhone before you order, you could always resort to standing on a long line and well just ordering like in the olden days...

New York City WiFi locations Map

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