By Trevor Baca, VP Software Engineering "Come here often?" ---First the coffeehouse. Next the bar. What makes a bar a bar? Well the drinking, certainly. But we can drink at home. But we don't. At least not in the same numbers. So what else makes a bar a bar? The answer depends to some extent on the bar we have in mind. The northeastern / midwestern Cheers archetype is an altogether different affair from the college hang-outs we find everywhere in the country. And both are different still from big city swank. So a bar for every demographic. We play an altogether different set of games in the bar than we do in the coffeeshop. There's "I need a couple of hours away after work on Friday." Then there's "I haven't seen the guys in a couple of weeks so it's time to catch up." And then there's "I wonder if I'll find someone real tonight ... finally." And many more besides. We ask the voice question again. To what extent does the voice constitute our experience of the bar? I think the answer is, again, that voice is a major determiner in the social context and our experience of the bar as a place. If we settle in to the coffeehouse to wrap ourselves in the conversation around us, we show up at the bar when we're looking for possibility. The possibility of someone new or a different type of connection. Our old friends at the bar are our launching pad for the new. But notice how different a function assigned to the voice. "Come here often?" Pick your platitude. Conversation is possible. But only so. And it's not hard to come up with reasons why. The thread of conversation may take a level of effort that we wanted to check at the door. Or maybe we wanna leave behind the social barrier that using lots of words can create. This is the voice as companion. We want just enough talk to renew old friendships and help spark some new ones. It's not reasons we look for but introductions. Sometimes, in some places we love, that's all we need.