Don't be too snarky about Starbucks: coffee before Starbucks was much worse than it is now. From the wikipedia article linked in the sibling comment you'll see that Starbucks pretty much sparked the good coffee revolution in the US.
I do understand the role of Starbucks in bringing coffee on the hip-train. I only tried the stuff they sell to our European cousins and now I no longer wonder why there is maybe just one or no Starbucks in Italy.
I hope I will be able to try their brew in the US, hopefully it will be better.
