Fairly new to geocaching but coming from a long background participating and working in skateboarding and skateboarding, I've heard the coffin call that [pick your poison] is "dead" many times over the years. Could be that participation is down, could be that ad revenue is down for relevant publications, could be that sales are down in specialty retailers or in major retailers. It's a cycle that tends to come and go within any sport/ hobby/ interest under the sun. Given that geocaching is an activity that exists largely outside any common financial markers I think that to say it is "dead" is most likely representative of a particular individual's feelings towards geocaching. Maybe they've tired of finding endless pill bottles under lot lamps, maybe they're tired of finding that a trackable isn't in a cache as shown in the inventory. Whatever the case may be, it's more up to the individual to find enjoyment in the game rather than blanket it as dead. Stop hunting for caches that are obviously in a supermarket parking lot if that's your beef. Stop going after nanos if that's your beef. The greatest thing about geocaching to me is that it is purely built on community, and as long as there are people out there hiding great caches, there will be people out there to sign the log.