tech on trail

[TexasBob]

sure. i'm 32. does that make me a dinosaur?

When you get the senior discount you are a dinosaur. You are only halfway there. If you start freaking out when there is no cell signal then you are a millennial. Seriously, my observation being around a lot of high school and college age people is that they see smartphones as a necessity where as older folks who spend most of their lives in the pre-smartphone era look upon them as a convenience.

[cliffordbarnabus]

When you get the senior discount you are a dinosaur. You are only halfway there. If you start freaking out when there is no cell signal then you are a millennial. Seriously, my observation being around a lot of high school and college age people is that they see smartphones as a necessity where as older folks who spend most of their lives in the pre-smartphone era look upon them as a convenience.

yeah man. all i hear these days is, "how did we ~ever~ live without cell phones?" my answer : well, we lived.

but to each, his/her own. if you want your 15 minute forecasts, cool. but sometimes, it feels nice to get soaked!

[gpburdelljr]

I found this quote from a January 2017 article:

"The vast majority of Americans – 95% – now own a cellphone of some kind. The share of Americans that own smartphones is now 77%, up from just 35% in Pew Research Center’s first survey of smartphone ownership conducted in 2011."

[rafe]

yeah man. all i hear these days is, "how did we ~ever~ live without cell phones?" my answer : well, we lived.

but to each, his/her own. if you want your 15 minute forecasts, cool. but sometimes, it feels nice to get soaked!

Yeah, "information" is fine but what are we going to do with it? Does it make things better?

The need to communicate with the real world still exists. In the bad old days long distance hikers had to wait for town stops to make phone calls.

We had to walk or hitch to town. Now we can just call for a shuttle or Uber.

We sent postcards to friends and family. Who does that any more? Nowadays we post pix to Facebook or send images via SMS.

[Time Zone]

Timely article:

https://www.theguardian.com/technolo...alley-dystopia

[Sovi]

I found this quote from a January 2017 article:

"The vast majority of Americans – 95% – now own a cellphone of some kind. The share of Americans that own smartphones is now 77%, up from just 35% in Pew Research Center’s first survey of smartphone ownership conducted in 2011."

I am among the non owners. I will be using one on the AT for communication with home, and guthooks app, but will promptly be passing it off to someone when I return home. Want to know the weather, look up. Want to know what's coming look to the trees. Deciduous trees will let you know about 30 mins before it rains, just have to pay attention to them.

[cliffordbarnabus]

"keeping up" with people is interesting. if you don't do social media, like me, then when i see someone whom i haven't seen in years we actually get to talk and catch up.

if you do social media, you already know everything or perhaps are simply referenced to "posts".

i don't want to post or be referenced to them. however, to receive and/or send a postcard....money and hell yeah!

[Scars]

i don't carry, nor do i own a cell phone. or any of those gidgets or gadgets. so i don't know what trump's doing, what the weather "should" be. and the only facebook in my face is a book by kerouac or salinger.

You’ve been a member of this internet site for five years and on at least 192 occasions you have successfully posted to this internet-based forum using some kind of gidget, gadget or thingamabob...unless you have special powers. Now you have piqued our interest, what could they be? Telepathy perhaps...but how will we know if you get our replies?

[garlic08]

You’ve been a member of this internet site for five years and on at least 192 occasions you have successfully posted to this internet-based forum using some kind of gidget, gadget or thingamabob...unless you have special powers. Now you have piqued our interest, what could they be? Telepathy perhaps...but how will we know if you get our replies?

The title of the thread is "tech on trail." The OP is talking about portable internet devices. Even the most curmudgeonly of us here obviously have internet computers at home.

[Scars]

Thank you for clarifying, I actually thought our friend had telepathic powers or something really cool through which he was communicating. What a let down...

[cliffordbarnabus]

You’ve been a member of this internet site for five years and on at least 192 occasions you have successfully posted to this internet-based forum using some kind of gidget, gadget or thingamabob...unless you have special powers. Now you have piqued our interest, what could they be? Telepathy perhaps...but how will we know if you get our replies?

i use a computer.

[jgil]

I bet that 100% of hikers 25 and under take a smartphone on the trail. Smaller percentage for us older folks but still probably 90% or better.

I'll take that bet. If I'm day hiking I never bring my phone, if I'm going on multiple day trips I have my phone in my pack but I don't even think about it until I finish. I hate phones, I only have it for emergency really. But I see why you would think that because I don't know anyone else who isn't constantly looking at their phones all day.

[jefals]

I'm 70, only been backpacking since I retired a few years ago. for me, it's phone "hands down" over a map.
I've been on a trail where I come to a T. Left? Right? Maps aren't going to be detailed enough. Guthook does.
Plus I can record my track out and follow it back. Easy to avoid getting lost out there.

[cliffordbarnabus]

i'm always amazed how "necessities" evolve as "necessities" over time.

in the meantime of time, i'll stay on the ape side of the evolution spectrum. after all, i'd rather get lost in the woods and die than waste away from cancer in a hospital!

[rocketsocks]

I carry the 10 essentials, all the techie stuff is purely entertainment...I carry all that stuff too, who gives a damn?

[rafe]

yeah, i was talking smart phones and ipads and connectivity stuff. not that there's anything wrong with it. not that there's anything right with it. just wondering about % and changes to dynamics of thru-hiking!

We've been arguing this matter for I dunno, twenty years now?

I'm generally in favor of tech, made my living by it, but I just had an epiphany, about an epiphany.

A gazillion years ago -- 1990 -- I had an amazing, almost religious experience on my hike through the hundred mile wilderness. It was on the ascent of Whitecap, southbound, pausing to look back north. Seeing no signs of civilization whatsoever. Fifty miles of wilderness, as far as I could see. I hadn't seen another hiker for a day. Feeling extremely vulnerable but amazingly alive. Nearly in tears from the vastness and serenity of it all, yet proud and deeply grateful to be exactly where I was.

Back then the HMW really felt like a wilderness. And of course this was many years before cell phones.

Now I wonder if not having a phone was essential to what happened. It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

(PS: I did have a camera with me...)

[cliffordbarnabus]

yeah man. it's such a personal thing. for me, i'm all for no tech. imagine summiting katahdin, or springer, or roan, or greylock, or just walking near a creek and you hear a "blooopy beep!" and you pull out your phone to see that the russians/north koreans/kardashians/trumps/whoevers did whatever wherever to whomever...

...worth it?

bliss is ignorance and versa vice...in my opinion.

[Leo L.]

I'm half-time self employed and half-time retired.
During my most recent multiday hike in the local mountains, I had just one single spot with reception in the middle of the hike.
Switched the phone on, received a call, and it was a customer offering me a new contract.
Even if I had a signal more often during a hike, I would not be able to use the phone for surfing and other nonsense, as it would run out of power way too fast.

[BuckeyeBill]

I have a smartphone but use it only when I am away from home or the shop. I have a few younger people working for me and they know that they need to stay off the phones when working. If there is a family emergency, their families are told to call the shop because the receptionist will always answer and come and get them. They are free to use their phones when on break, and we take several breaks, and they seem to accept the policy.

[Malto]

I have a love hate relationship with electronic devices on trail. Lately I have two, iPhone and my camera. I love both, iPhone to make last minute logistical changes, weather forecasts and a few minor features and the camera takes pictures. But both have their negative. iPhone if used for anything other than what is listed above is a distraction that I don't want. One of the beauties OP from my PCT hike was being oblivious to the outside world. The camera absolutely changes the dynamic for FOR from living the moment to capturing the moment. While I like to see the photos afterwards, I believe I am missing out on that moment.