Glamour Mag

Glamour Magazine

Coffeehouse conversation by computer 

March 1993

COFFEEHOUSES are the perfect private-time hideout- great for daydreaming, 

people watching, eavesdrop- ping. Now some coffee-houses in northern California 

have added an extra perk: the opportunity to converse with total strangers via a tabletop computer terminal. 

Fifty cents lets you into the world of the San Francisco Network (SF NET), where people around the country (all with code names like Kat Eyes and Jungle Goddess) complain about their bosses, debate politics or wax poetic about their love lives. 

"SF NET enables me to express my ideas even when I'm in the mood to be alone," says Edith Alderette, a veterinary technician and student in the San Francisco Bay area. 

Wayne Gregori, the creator of SF NET, hopes to expand the network to cafés throughout the United States. But until that happens, anyone with a home computer and modem can subscribe to SF NET for a monthly fee. Says one woman who does: "I can sit around at home with mayonnaise in my hair and cold cream on my face and still be social."