Bryant Simon, professor at Philadelphia’s Temple University, is “searching for the meaning of modern life amid the round tables and comfy sofas of Starbucks coffee shops.”
He has observed out 300 Starbucks locations in 6 countries, trying to learn “what it means to live and consume in the age of globalization.” In 2008, expect to see Simon’s “caffeine-fueled opus,” Consuming Starbucks, on the shelf at your local bookstore.
In a similar vein, Jonathan Morris, a British historian, says that “there’s a deep sense of unpredictability in the modern world, and what Starbucks provides a lot of people is predictability.” He believes that Starbucks is successful because it sells comfort in “an anonymous, often dislocating world.”
…Very deep stuff, eh? 
Source: USA Today
Actually, the quote: “there’s a deep sense of unpredictability in the modern world, and what Starbucks provides a lot of people is predictability.” was from Bryant Simon, not Jonathon Morris.