When Geeks Go Camping

mikep.maine writes "CNN and Business 2.0 have an interesting article on Tim O'Reilly's Foo camp for geeks - not just any geek - people like Google founders, Tim Bray (invented XML), and venture capitalists. Stashed away in the rolling hills north of San Francisco ... Foo Camp, a new breed of geek gathering organized (somewhat) by O'Reilly & Associates. The idea: Get 200 or so smart folks with a lot in common together in one place at one time, let them pitch tents, toss in a Wi-Fi network, and see what happens. Turns out, quite a lot. You are as likely to bump into a founder of Google (both were there) as the vice chairman of Warburg Pincus. Yes, they had Wi-Fi and marshmallows."

Not a lot of difference...

[young_hacker_1991]

There's not a lot of difference between outdoorsy boyscout types and computer geeks -- I have several friends who enjoy both, and I'm sure there's a lot of overlap between both groups in general. Both camping and hacking require an ability to pay *very close* attention to relatively tedious tasks, and offer a similar feeling of relaxed accomplishment.

My dad and I go camping all the time, and he's the one who's encouraged me to get into computers!

UNPLUG, you guys!!!

[MadChicken]

Camping is the anti-tech. It's the ultimate getaway when over-teched.

Camping is not about wi-fi. It's about burning things. And reading fiction.

Re:PLUG, you guys!!!

[rw2]

Camping is the anti-tech

Codswallup. Camping is very high tech. It may not typically have many electronic parts, but it is very high tech in almost every other way. Heck ever when it comes to transistors GPS and two-ways are devices many wouldn't care to do without.

*And* you've missed (or made light of) the entire point. Get away from the office and chat with your peers about the work that makes you peers. They happened to do it camping. Sounds fun to me!

Maybe we should have slashstock at a national park somewhere.

Come on...

[Faust7]

Camping is not about wi-fi. It's about burning things.

Actually, I'd say that a great deal of the thrill in geek-camping comes from having lots of sophisticated electronic equipment in a setting where it's not really supposed to exist. The surreal superposition, the defiance of nature and embracing of technology -- I mean, cool, eh?

And reading fiction.

So load up Slashdot while you're out in the forest.

Re:PLUG, you guys!!!

[s0l0m0n]

Depends on how you camp. My tent is kind of high tech (if you consider aluminum poles and canvas high tech), as is the stove.. Sure, we've got a tent with fiberglass poles, but it seems like the dogs always crash through it in the dark, breaking the poles.

My reason for camping (which I do a lot of) is not to get away from the office. It's to get away from the noise of the city. It's to get back to the way I grew up. I don't take my peers camping. I take my freinds, and my family.

I sure don't need a gps to know where I am. A map, a compass and the sun seem to work pretty good. I sure don't have WiFi in camp. Can yell almost that far. I don't bring my laptop, because I don't go out there to do the same thing that I do everyday.

They brought Venture Capitalists to the picnic says to me that this was a purely bussiness meeting in an abnormal setting, nothing more. I'm sure that the folks who went will remember it for the rest of thier lives. I'd have run for the woods, personally.

josh

Re:Come on...

[Telex4]

Actually, I'd say that a great deal of the thrill in geek-camping comes from having lots of sophisticated electronic equipment in a setting where it's not really supposed to exist. The surreal superposition, the defiance of nature and embracing of technology -- I mean, cool, eh?

Why do people like feeling that they're defying nature? To borrow an old Taoist saying, When you climb up a mountain, you haven't conquered that mountain... the mountain has lifted you up that high. What a team -- you and the mountain ;)

Personally, when I go camping I like to completely escape things like computers, TVs, radios, work, etc. and just go walking. It's so difficult to find a way to really just appreciate nature, to walk and enjoy clean air, or to have a really good climb up a nearby hill, that it seems like a waste to load up Slashdot.

But if you do like to take some hi-tech with you, why not think of it as finding a new kind of communion with your environment, sitting peacefully outside your tent hacking away, rather than beating it?

Re:Not a lot of difference...

[Daniel Dvorkin]

What-fuckin-ever. I'm really sick of Slashdotters, of all people, perpetuating this stereotype. Maybe that's the kind of geek you choose to be (and yes, it is a choice) but there are plenty of the rest of us who enjoy physical activity that doesn't involve a mouse, keyboard, or joystick.

Re:I'm a geek, I like to camp

[M. Silver]

but in most of
North America (as long as you're not right downhill from a big city) the
ground water is potable as it stands

I'd advise you to Google for "beaver fever" but you probably wouldn't get the result I'm thinking of (SafeSearch probably won't let you search at all...) And darned if I can remember the formal name for it. Somebody else remember? Anybody? Bueller?

Camping is for getting unwired

[KalvinB]

When I go on vacation I bring my laptop and digital camera. The laptop is for storing the pictures. You can visit Slashdot, play games, whatever at home. The laptop has no games aside from the default games installed with Win98 and no modem. It's an old 133mhz.

The idea of going camping, going on vacation, is to get away from the everyday. If it's not helping you explore or survive, don't bring it.

If you want to play shoot-em up buy some paint-ball guns. If you want to play some racing games, rent some ATVs.

Any excuse to get away from computers is a good excuse.

Slashdot will still be here when you get back. The idea is to enjoy new things. Not to enjoy the same old same old in a different setting.

Ben