Donsell

wavector, I received my geocoin. Thank you very much! It's a beautiful coin. I'll be the centerpiece of my first cache hide. Thank you for the travel bug too, it was an unexpected surprise! Dan

I agree Wavector, this was a lot of fun. Thanks for taking the time to put it together. Its difficult, but worth the effort and you do learn a lot! Dan

Since we don't have our GPS yet, we've been using a Windows Mobile smart phone for geocaching. I mark the location of the cache on Google Maps as a favorite. It hasn't been bad, we're 13 for 15 and I'm pretty sure that the caches we haven't found are due to snow. We're getting a GPS that supports paperless geocaching, but I'll still use my mobile to get satellite views if I want them. Thanks.

Sending contest email now

Sorry, I'm the one who isn't being clear. I agree with you that Garmin doesn't have a choice but follow it's licensing agreement with Navteq. Garmin's choice was deciding to use the NavTeq IP in the first place. I don't know if NavTeq was the only game in town when they made this decision or if their IP was so much better than everyone else's that Garmin is gambling that it'll be worth it to us. But the fact is licensing Garmin software is expensive and restrictive. My point is that it will be interesting to see how their business model serves them in the future. I'm not going to purchase any Garmin stock.

Did you read my whole post? I said that Garmin can license this however they want. They've made a business decision to license this and how to pass costs on to the consumer. We the consumers either have to agree to their terms or look elsewhere. I'm a software developer so I refuse to pirate software, but many people will when they feel the terms are unreasonable. But, in a free market, it's my opinion that such restrictive license terms hurt the company in the long run. We'll have to see how this plays out for Garmin.

Unfortunately, Garmin can license their software however they want and we, the consumer, have a choice to buy their products or not. Garmin's licensing is the most restrictive I've heard of. Even Microsoft lets you install Office on your desktop and your laptop without purchasing a new license And you can move the non-OEM versions of Windows from one computer to another without much hassle. Garmin will eventually figure out that this form of licensing actually encourages pirating rather than eliminates it. There are so many ways they could license their software that I think would help their bottom line. Things like being able to download your home state's City Nav map for free when you register your device and deeply reducing the licensing costs of software for subsequent units purchased. But this is what creates opportunity for companies like DeLorme. It won't take long for someone to take advantage of the situation.

My wife and I are noobies who've found 8 caches in Lincoln, Nebraska the past 2 days without a GPS. Santa's a little late, but he's delivering a Colorado next Tuesday.