Coffee shops in USA vs. España

I just sat down in a coffee shop to visit a friend and am struck by the complete silence. I remember this place having music or something, but I think the greater contrast has to do with the differences between Spain & the US. Coffee shops in Spain are a place where people meet to talk or to socialize. It is rare to see anyone sitting alone and if they are they are likely reading the paper early in the morning and talking on occasion to the guy behind the bar and to the locals. In the US coffee shops can be places to meet people, but are also places to get work done, to study, to sit down alone for hours on end. Thus the difference... Spanish coffee shops are FULL of activity and noise. American coffee shops may too be somewhat noisy, but may sound more like a library than a social place. It is odd to me to look around and to see one, only one table with more than one person. And it only has two people. And presently NO ONE is talking, just about everyone has a laptop out and if not than a book from which they are studying. Granted I am in a college town and it is about 16:30 in the afternoon, but still. Even if I am here to catch up on e-mail, journal, and to be alone with other people around (and ideally with some noise to help me concentrate, ironic i know), I would like others to be interacting with each other.