Climbing and Logging In

Climbing and Logging In
(A Tribute To The 1999 Philippine Webby Awards Nominees)

What's common between a trekker and a tekkie?

1. Both have passion for their craft, mountaineers for the outdoors, new places to climb; the designer on new ways of doing things.
2. Both are seen to be weird but not nerdy though. Both are trendy.
3. Those who excel are the young ones. There are now lots of young ones mainly in the late 20's to 30's into climbing.
4. Obsession for equipment. The IT for their computers, scanners, storage, connectivity. What about the mountaineer? Who has not attended a socials without any discussion on this?
5. No one's earning from the craft. Software companies have low margins, designers not paid that high here, e-commerce not getting that high hits. Mountaineers don't earn from the journey, nor from sharing their info and stories. Certainly not the manufacturers who only cater to a limited few.
6. Both have a wealth of info, technology, experiences, adventures and a fresh way of looking at things.
7. The IT person needs to be dragged out of the screen to escape from his high stress world, the mountaineer out of the outdoors to be brought back to reality.
8. Both are changing the way the world is ran. Changing the way we look at things and in problem solving.
9. Both get satisfaction from completion-The mountaineer in reaching the top, the IT person in solving a hitch.
10. You can no longer take the passion out from them. In extreme cases their obsessions have become uncontrollable.

Lastly, both can be friends. That is why I maintain a circle of friends who are either in the outdoors or in the electronic world. Sometimes in both. Welcome to the next millennium.

Have e-mail, will climb. No need for pre-climb. Join the club?

-Chito
19 November 1999