I started going to Starbucks regularly in the last two year and have begun to notice an increasing number of people lounging around in the back surfing the web. When I first encountered this phenomenon, I was extremely irritated at all these bums who just won’t give up their seats… sometimes for the whole afternoon. It turns out this phenomenon actually has a name, coworking.

Coworking is a movement to create a community of cafe-like collaboration spaces for developers, writers and independents.

Apparently, many of those surfing the web not only have jobs, but are in fact working! There are quite a few bloggers and .com executives who use cafes exclusively as their offices. Now that I travel pretty extensively, I am completely sold on the idea of co-working as well. Cafes are so homely and yet usually bustling with activity it’s really quite motivating. It’s also really difficult to beat the convenience factor. I can pull up to any city’s wireless enabled cafe, grab a coffee and immediately get to work.

Heck, I’m typing this blog entry from Baltimore’s One World Cafe! (BTW, it’s chocolate chai is really quite good.).