A pox on both their houses.

Seriously, I wonder how much of this is just simply due to the fact that McDonalds are much more likely to have a drive-through than Starbucks (at least that is the case in my state). I presume a lot of the profits come from the morning coffee-rush where time is at a premium, so I can see people stopping at McD so that they don't have to mess about with parking etc.

This is one submission where the reader comments are better than the original article.

I go to starbucks to get away from my normal work environment to work on projects or with a friend to sit and just talk about stuff. I can't see myself doing either of those things at a mickey d's

Interesting.

From my experience, a McD's is just about as noisy as a Starbucks on an average day. If I want to work on projects, I generally aim more for the local, less-commercialized coffee houses.

Is there an ambiance factor to this, or is it more of a psychological distinction between fast food places and coffee houses in general? Or is there something else?

Honestly, I like local coffee places much more than all of the above as well. But the thing I appreciate about Starbucks is that 1) they are all at the same level of cleanliness and relative comfort no matter which Bucks you end up at and 2) the crowd in them is usually there for the same reasons.

I tend to always work with headphones in so the noise isn't an issue.

I guess if I found a comfortable McD's with wifi I might have to try it out for a session :-)

I don't know about you, but I personally think McDonald's mocha tastes like ass.