SF Net

{{COI|date=July 2023}}

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SF NET Coffee House Network was an electronic bulletin board system created by Wayne Gregori in San Francisco, California in July 1991.{{cite news |title=High-tech small talk offered at The City's cafes|author=John Flinn|newspaper=San Francisco Examiner|date=18 August 1991}}{{cite web|last=Leonard|first=Andrew|title=CyberCafes Mean Business|url=http://www.cybertoday.com/v1n3/CyberCafes.html|accessdate=20 August 2012}}{{cite news |title=The Electronic Coffeehouse|author=Katherine Bishop|newspaper=New York Times|date=2 August 1992}}

The network consisted of coin-operated, public access computers installed in many Bay Area coffee houses.{{cite news |title=A Cuppa and a Computer |author=John Boudreau |newspaper=Washington Post|date=17 February 1993}}{{cite news|title=SF NET Coffee House Network CNN Report 1991 San Francisco |author= Linda Joyce |newspaper=CNN |date=1991}} SF Net allowed individuals from all walks of life to communicate with each other via chat rooms and message boards. Additionally, it provided games and access to FidoNet.{{cite news |title=The Computerized Kaffeeklatsch|author=Shann Nix|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle|date=14 January 1993}}

The coffee shop terminals were the culmination of a series of clever solutions to the problems of long-term remote placement in areas marked by low supervision and a young crowd. According to the then-popular Boardwatch magazine, the inexpensive, hence replaceable PC XT sat inside a locked plywood cabinet with vandalism-resistant Zolatone{{cite web|title=Zolatone - Technical Information|url=http://www.zolatone.com/multi-color-paint/tech-info/|publisher=Master Coating Technologies|accessdate=20 August 2012}} paint and "keyboard condoms," or spill-resistant rubber coverings. Wayne Gregori engaged David Lahti as a friend and fellow visionary to help develop and operator of a popular San Francisco BBS, to develop and maintain the code base for the cafe table's communications software named, TableTalk, the BBS code base was maintained by Gregori. Lahti and Gregori developed and introduced a handshake between the coffee shop terminals and the BBS to distinguish them from other callers, ensuring paying customers could continue to use dedicated lines.{{cite journal|title=SFNet - Coin Operated Bulletin Board Invades Coffee House Culture|journal=Boardwatch Magazine|date=May 1993|pages=65–69}}