Citations:laptop hobo

Noun: "a heavy user of freely available Wi-Fi and/or power outlets at coffeeshops"

 * 2011, Hamilton Nolan, "Starbucks Wants You Laptop Hobos Out", Gawker, 3 August 2011:
 * A Starbucks tipster tells him that some NYC Starbucks locations are now covering up their electrical outlets to discourage laptop hobos, because "some people just cannot be reasoned with."
 * 2011, Dan Savage, "A Note to My Fellow Coffee-Shop-Squatting Laptop Hobos", The Stranger, 3 August 2011:
 * Here's how it's done, my fellow laptop hobos: You order something, you tip. If you sit for more than 90 minutes, you order something else, you tip again.
 * 2011, "Is Starbucks Covering Up Electrical Oulets To Ban Laptop Hobos?", Now Public, 4 August 2011:
 * Those of us who like to hang out at coffee shops and pretend to look busy are under siege. There are reports that Starbucks is looking for ways to clamp down on so-called "laptop hobos," people who sit in a coffee shop all day using the free wireless while nursing a small latte for 12 hours.
 * 2011, Romantic Karenna, "Hopedot VOS: A Laptop Hobo’s Best Traveling Companion", Alison, 16 September 2011
 * 2011, Hamilton Nolan, "The Great Starbucks Laptop Hobo War Has Begun", Gawker, 23 September 2010:
 * Last month, word began circulating that laptop hobo headquarters Starbucks had a plan to force laptop hobos out of its precious coffee dispensaries.
 * 2011, Stephen Quinn, "Hobo with a laptop", Globe and Mail, 30 September 2011:
 * Real laptop hobos you'll find in the windows of coffee shops up the street that offer free WiFi and unprotected electrical outlets.
 * 2012, Denise Ryan, "‘Laptop hobos’ face crackdown", Vancouver Sun, 8 January 2012:
 * Starbucks started the war on laptop hobos (you know who you are, essay/screenplay/blog writers) who camp for the free Wi-Fi, nurse a single coffee for hours and take up valuable real estate.
 * 2012, Russell McLendon, "Prepare To Pay For Power In Public Places", Forbes, 21 February 2012:
 * The idea is that laptop hobos drive away other potential customers by hogging tables — and without any specific obligation to spend money themselves.
 * 2013, Steve Raabe, "Colorado coffee shops putting limits on power, Wi-Fi use", Denver Post, 5 July 2013:
 * The "laptop hobo" phenomenon — patrons buying one coffee and spending ensuing hours browsing the Web — is a growing issue with food and beverage operations.
 * 2013, Michael Thasher, "Starbucks And Other Coffee Shops Want To Stop People From Camping Out All Day", Business Insider, 12 July 2013:
 * The squatters, or "laptop hobos," are those who buy a single cup of coffee and spend lengthy amounts of time in coffee shops driving down turnover and so other establishments have gone further to detour the "laptop hobos."