Barnes and Noble

Just a note about Barnes and Noble. I thought no one comes here anymore so it would be a quiet day, sipping decaff and working on my computer. I came, in ordered the coffee and found one chair left. Evidently many of us still need to have some physical communion with others even if we don't talk.Furtively glancing around, I see 20, 30, 40, 50 and above somethings working on computers, textbooks and even reading. We're all here and within touching distance. I assume most of us could be doing this at home so I wonder what experience we're coming for. Is it for the coffee house experience? You know the one I'm talking about - music in the backgrond, small groups of people sitting around tiny tables, listening to music, not necessarily talking. (It doesn't hurt here that It's a wonderful World is playing in the background.) Or is it something else? There is free wi fi so that can't hurt either but so many have it nowadays and they can get wi-fi at Starbucks if they want coffee. I think it's something more. I remember last semester reading about library hubs - can't remember the exact term but they're huge areas where students come to study that have all of the newest computer access. They're associated with libraries but the books are usually on a different floor of the hub. The access is great but the truth is they could do that at home. We use the internet to connect, but we need something physical from each other. I wonder what it is.