Yes -- they have an exclusive deal with T-Mobile and you have to pay to access a hotspot. It looks kind of silly nowadays, though, because so many independent shops offer free wifi, sometimes right next door.

The company was started in Mass, hence the proliferation in New England. Also, they've been around a lot longer than Starbucks so many people are used to drinking their coffee and have grown accustomed to it.

starbucks quality has dropped way off. Better than nothing in an airport but i no longer have coffee there when at home. I now primarily use Peets.

I'd noticed that as well. Seemed to odd to me, but I dragged my friend to one in Concord to see if we could tell why they seemed to be everywhere.

The buttermilk bar was okay. The coffee was okay. I wouldn't go out of my way for either.

I hear ya. Here in Honolulu where there's a Sbux on every other corner it seems, we're almost held hostage if we want convenience.

A co worker just returned from San Francisco and brought back a lb of PEETS beans. I am in heaven. It is that good.

I'm not a coffee drinker, but Mrs. Deubster spends about half our combined income on the stuff, so after reading all these posts I thought I'd list her preferences:

1) Barnes & Nobles - she says they use Starbucks coffee but make it differently
2) Her own Kona blend
3) Krispy Kreme - she thinks it's quite good
4) Peet's - close to Krispy Kreme
5) Starbucks - she has to order extra shots because they make it so weak, but it's OK
6) Dunkin Donuts - she tried several on a recent Boston trip, wasn't very impressed

She looks forward every holiday season to Gingerbread lattes from Starbucks, has bought their syrup and can't make them worth a darn at home.

While I like Peets corperate policies and their mission statement I find their coffees are overroasted also.There is no point to buying expensive varieties from peets as all of the wonderful charecter will be lost.That said if their is a peets on one corner and a 'bucks on the other I will go to peets)we actually have the scenerio here in Pasadena at the intersection of Lake and California )
PS-Howard Schultz got his training from Howard Peet btw-Peets was here first

I just tried Caribou Coffee for the first time last week. I lump them in the Starbucks category. OK, but nothing to rave about. They started in MSP area and are now moving about the country.

For a more humorous look at Starbucks, go here-it's very funny!

http://baristabrat.blogspot.com/

http://starbucksgossip.typepad.com/

Check this website out called Starbuck Gossip.

The fact is that Starbucks has not damaged the Mom and Pop independent coffee shops, but lifted all boats when it comes to coffee consumption in America. Granted Tully's isn't doing so hot here in the PNW but the other independent cafe's in Seattle and other parts of the PNW are doing very well. In fact lots of new ones opening up. And it sounds like all fast food stores are equally hated, except maybe Wendy's. You don't hear anyone bashing Wendy's.

That may be true, toadman, but I wander the country with professional colleagues who refuse to drink coffee from an independent shop because "I want good coffee".... by which they mean Starbucks coffee... they've been hypnotized by the Starbucks brand. I was in Beverly Hills with someone a few years ago when the Bev Hills Diner was still there, near the corner of Beverly and Wilshire -- used to be a fun joint, especially late at night -- and she wouldn't go in there: "Do they have good coffee? Where's a Starbucks?" These same people scoff at mass-market brand-name food propositions, from McD's to Subway to Chili's, making all the usual arguments against cultural homogenity. But when it comes to coffee they want their Starbucks, nothing else. It's so weird. Sick. Sick and wrong.

I noticed the DDs everywhere in Boston as well. They are the Starbuck's of that city it seems (this coming from someone who lives where there is a Starbuck's across the street from a Starbuck's). The coffee isn't bad at DD but not my favorite.

I personally prefer to brew my own (coffee press).

If I do get coffee at a coffee shop I tend to go to the hole in the wall type places for a few reasons (free wifi, better tasting coffee, and personal service). Also, the food options are usually better at the mom and pop shops.

Has anyone tried the recently updated McD's coffee? Pretty good stuff IMO.

Interesting article I learned something new.

You won't have to soon...there's an Intelligentsia opening in Silver Lake next month!