First, coworking (and its many forms) has been around or centuries. What’s new today is 1) how we’re using community infrastructure to seed these spaces and 2) the technological environment that allows these spaces to spring up with little overhead or cost.

At Citizen Space, our coworking space in San Francisco, we’ve taken a hybrid model in operating and charging for the space. Rather than charging drop-ins to use the space, we offer it free, first come, first served. We do charge, however, for folks looking to leave equipment and gear and get a key for 24-hour access. This means that we’re able to draw lots of interesting and resourceful folks to our space for less than the trip to the cafe but also offer something of value to those who don’t want to lug their 30″ Apple Display around with them.

After opening in November and with little promotion, we’ve attracted five monthers (filling our available seating — but leaving the entire “coworking” area free for drop ins or for meetings and other purposes. We also offer an enclosed “conversation room” out back for similar uses.

Our experiment in openness seems to be going pretty well so far, and suggests more that there isn’t any one “right” model for coworking. And, as you suggest, if the cost of a latte is all someone has to spend for an afternoon or an hour, there are coworking spaces cropping up to meet that demand, with the community and infrastructure (like power and reliable wifi) that independent workers crave and find worth migrating to.

Personally, I love the idea of a world-wide network of spaces that I can visit and work in wherever I go… and I also love the idea of reclaiming cafes for casual (non-work) socialization and actually enjoying the coffee. There’s certainly benefits in having spaces that serve dual purposes, but I also think there’s room for more third spaces dedicated to being productive in a social environment.

I had a friend who worked for a company remotely long distance. Every day, he would go to the local University in the student union building and use the freely available wireless and work from there. He liked having lots of people around.