The Hipster cafe: The London 'Anti-Cafe' Where Everything Is Free But You Pay 5 Cents A Minute Just - Polidicks

[img]http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/52cec9c36da8114a1b895637-800-/ziferblat-cafe-london.jpg[/img] [img]http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/52cecb87eab8ea1820d02446-1200-600/ziferblat-cafe-london-5.jpg[/img] [img]http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/52cecab769bedd18421c32bb-1200-600/ziferblat-cafe-london-2.jpg[/img] [img]http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/52cecb636bb3f7064fd0243a-1200-600/ziferblat-cafe-london-4.jpg[/img] [quote] Next time you're in London, you could walk into the Ziferblat cafe in the fashionable Shoreditch neighborhood and grab a coffee. Perhaps you might sit down on one of the comfortable armchairs, pull out your laptop and check your emails on the Wi-Fi network. Feeling a little hungry? There's some food in the cabinet; help yourself. How much does all this cost? Well, if you spend, say, 45 minutes there, it will cost you £1.35 (approximately $2.20). You see, Ziferblat might look like a traditional cafe or a coffee shop, but it's not. It's an "anti-cafe." Customers are welcome to come in and do whatever they like with the facilities, as long as they pay 3 pence (5 cents) per minute while they're there. So far, Londoners seem excited by the news — Time Out marveled at a raw onion in the pantry (to cook with, if you wish), while the Guardian wondered if having a piano in the cafe was a great idea, or a terrible one. Ziferblat (which means "clock-face" in Russian and German) is the brainchild of Ivan Mitin, an author who decided to open an anti-cafe in Moscow in 2011. The idea was so successful that he eventually opened nine more throughout Russia, and the idea of the "anti-cafe" has become a popular trend in the country. While some might say the idea of an anti-cafe might fit in with collectivist ideas in Russian society, Mitin disagrees. In an email to Business Insider, he explained that he thought the idea was quite universal. "We touch upon archetypal things that are common between anyone on Earth — it doesn't matter if you are Russian, African, European, North Korean, or whatever," Mitin writes. "It is a desire to be yourself and be loved unconditionally. Everyone wishes to get back to the fairytale of the childhood. Ziferblat reminds me of the idea of a treehouse — kids split together to build a small world of their own where the 'stupid and artificial' rules of society wouldn't work." [/quote] Read more: [url]http://www.businessinsider.com/ziferblat-london-russias-anti-cafe-comes-to-uk-2014-1#ixzz2qB4UGbhh[/url] Its gonna close within 3 months

The decoration is horrible.

It looks boring as fuck. 5 cents per minute isn't very expensive though, but the idea is stupid.

Interesting concept but they need to charge a bit more to stay in business I think.

I would go to a cafe that did that. But I wouldn't go to [B]that[/B] cafe.

[QUOTE=Alec W;43508178]Interesting concept but they need to charge a bit more to stay in business I think.[/QUOTE] shh 5 cent coffee just gotta get in and out real quick

I cant tell if its a cafe or a yard sale to be honest.

I don't know whether the pictures are unsaturated or the décor of that café is so unbelievably bland that it's actually *put me off* the idea of only having to pay half a quid to go have a cup of tea.

I find it very confusing that the place is in london, but the op has decided to use cents for pricing.

I hope for them, that they don't sell coffee-to-go.

Hell I'd give it a shot.

I'd totally chill in there, it looks pretty great.

it cost 3$ to go for one hour or are do they meant pent's then 3 pounds either way not a lot of money.

You pay less for being in there than riding public mass transit for the same amount of time. You can't expect much more than a refurbished office room and some furniture the guy probably hunted for through bazaars or found next to garbage bins. [editline]12th January 2014[/editline] It's kinda more of an open community center without having to be part of the community in advance.

The owner is probably going to lose a lot of money from this.

[QUOTE=Oizen;43508164]The decoration is horrible.[/QUOTE] As terrible as it looks; and yes, it does look darn horrid; I do like what they did giving every table it's own style. Notice that for the most parts, the chairs match the table, the lamp and the timer in style. So you can sit at the grandma's house table, or the how-people-thought-2000-would-look-in-1970 table, or the guest-room-with-discarded-furniture table.

Looks kinda 70s and relaxed.. Put a bit of music on and it may just work.

[QUOTE=Jamsponge;43508226]I don't know whether the pictures are unsaturated or the décor of that café is so unbelievably bland that it's actually *put me off* the idea of only having to pay half a quid to go have a cup of tea.[/QUOTE]I think they're taken like that to give a very old, dated appearance.

I don't know, he's done this before and it's been successful. But I don't see how 3p a minute is supposed to pay for anything.

[QUOTE=Doctor Zedacon;43508487]I think they're taken like that to give a very old, dated appearance.[/QUOTE] Well whatever they did it worked, the pictures in the OP, even [I]the guy in the bottom one,[/I] looks like they jumped straight out of the late 60's/ early 70's.

Also, I'd just go and pay some pocket change, then take the the table and chairs in the back left corner of this shot: [img]http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/52cec9c36da8114a1b895637-800-/ziferblat-cafe-london.jpg[/img]

I think they are banking on anorexic writers coming there to type out blogs for hours on their macbooks and not order anything

[QUOTE=Jamsponge;43508226]I don't know whether the pictures are unsaturated or the décor of that café is so unbelievably bland that it's actually *put me off* the idea of only having to pay half a quid to go have a cup of tea.[/QUOTE] Looks like soviet era furniture, all of it.

I want this in my town, seems like a nice place to chill with friends while high.

The success of this is really based on ownership of the property. If he owns it, he'll do pretty well. If he's paying for the sky high London rates, not so much.

Sweet jesus, even the images have had noise filter applied to them so they look like something out of the early 70's consumer camera.

Should charge a higher rate for entry and the 5 cents per minute rate for the remainder of time, I don't know if they'd be able to stay in business at this rate to be honest because it's a dollar per 12 minutes, which is enough time to buy and drink two coffees if you're not taking forever on purpose.

I have a feeling that this idea wouldn't fly at all. And the interior looks like a result of a mix of some rather poor life choices and someone's garage sale. It doesn't look cozy, it looks cheap-ass.

There's a cafe near me with the whole pay for time idea. Been there a couple times and I'd say its pretty cool.

I'm sure they'd be a bit annoyed if a huge chunk of their patrons literally just walked in, grabbed a snack or two out of the pantry, and were out the door again within 15 seconds of entering. I know I would.[QUOTE=Kirbyfactor;43508177]It looks boring as fuck.[/QUOTE] It isn't the point of this joint to look nice. They're banking on you walking in, sitting down, and spending an hour and a half on your laptop.