The WiFi coffee shop

Human progress apparently skipped a groove. We have gone from coffee shops that simply served coffee and pastries to those that wished to sit around in public without getting drunk to coffee shops with wireless internet service so customers can geek the internet or maybe work without getting drunk. But what happened to the intermediate step? Maybe I missed the era when coffee drinkers pulled small portable TVs out of their backpacks and messenger bags and watched Seinfeld and Simpson's re-runs while they caffeinated. Must have happened somewhere, probably California.