utnereader:

Telecommuting via laptop and wireless Internet is a relatively new phenomenon. There is, however, a long history of people – especially writers – working from a favorite coffee shop or cafe rather than an office. Today we tend to associate the phenomenon with the Paris of Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, or the coffeehouses of Vienna at the turn of the 20th Century. The poet Peter Altenberg was even known to have mail delivered to his favorite hangout.In many ways, however, the golden age of the coffeehouse workday is now, as any barista can attest. Over the last decade, I’ve done a fair amount of work in traditional offices, where I am least efficient, various apartments, where I tend to work longer and more productive hours, and a string of coffee shops, the places where I’ve turned out the most usable words per working minute. More via the Atlantic …