[pct-l] Backpacking Computers

[CMountainDave at aol.com (CMountainDave@xxxxxxx)]

In a message dated 12/13/03 10:22:00 AM, littlemazdatruck@hotmail.com writes:

<< I  hate to be a wet blanket, but isn't one of the joys of backpacking to 
get 

away from this stuff?  I mean, if one must take the office with them, why 

bother going?

 >>

I read an article in National Geographic on the American Indian. When asked 
why they had adopted the white man's culture instead of clinging to their old 
ways and customs, an Indian replied. We are pragmatists. If its there why not 
use it? 
  Things like computers and cell phones are neutral. It is we that decide to 
place connotations like good or evil on them, and it is we that decide just 
how far to let them into our lives. If you judge computers on the trail to be a 
bad thing, then simply don't use them. Of course I am speaking from a 
perspective where I can isolate myself from others a will since I am self employed and 
don't work in an office. I might think differently if I was constantly 
tethered to a cell phone or pager.
  It's kind of like wanting to be the first person somewhere. You can 
fantasize that you are until you see signs that you aren't. You can fantasize that 
you are getting away from civilization in a remote place until you see someone 
talking on a cell phone on top of Mt Rainier. The technology is there, people 
are going to use it and there is no going back. Face it. The people in Barrow 
Alaska are no longer mentally isolated by their remote setting.
 So why not be a pragmatist, especially if the technology lightens your pack 
weight and makes your effort more efficient (as digital cameras and PDA's do)