Well, I'm also one of the "200".
As you can tell by my post number I rarely visit/post to the forums. This might be my 3rd time visiting them this year. I don't remember ever posting anything in these forums before so I'll do my best to vent then be gone.
I mainly use the forums to search for solutions to problems that I come across.
My problem is that I use Google Earth all the time for caching. So when I loaded my PC with Windows 7 RC last night I wanted to setup my GSAK and grab the KML file for Google Earth. To my surprise it's not there. Am I losing my mind? It used to be right here on my account page! Better check the forums and find out what's up.
Well, here I am!!
I have read every post on the thread. Some more than once. I've come to the conclusion that something is not right.
Let's start with the number "200". If they (Groundspeak) didn't want us to "get hung up on the number 200" then why make the statement "only about 200 users regularly accessed the Google Earth KML"?
Was this their attempt to makes us think we're the only ones using it so we better adapt to the new way?
When I first read that I thought it was a typo. I know for a fact that I can draw a 20 mile circle around my house and find 50 cachers that use the Google Earth KML. In fact a group of us were just talking about how nice the KML is at the last event I attended on the 18th of April.
So the question is, if they really think that only 200 of us use it regularly, why is that? Is their method of counting us wrong? If that's the case then is it possible that the true impact on the servers/network could be measured wrong also?
If the impact on the network is correct but instead of 200 customers using it there were 200,000 using it then is the impact justified? Should it then be assumed that they should be looking at a break/fix issue rather than pulling the plug and telling their clients that it's going away and not coming back so live with it? While this method of problem solving is 100% effective in fixing this bandwidth/server issue, it's not really good from a PR standpoint.
I've made a quick count of clients on this thread alone and have counted around 50 users that say they use the GE KML feature and will miss it. That's 25% of the 200 number quoted from the Release note. Since the feature isn't even dead yet I'm sure that this number will rise dramatically over the next 2 weeks as users like me want to know why a feature they used doesn't work anymore.
I guess what I'm eluding to is I feel that I'm being lied to and that the number of users and the user to impact ratio to the system has little to do with the reason for pulling the feature.
Could there be another underlying issue? Politics maybe? Money? Groundspeak wanting us touse their Google maps exclusively? I don't know and hesitate to even speculate since I know nothing of Groundspeak and their business. I think either their method of counting actual users of the feature is wrong or we're being hoodwinked on the true reason.
As far as some of the posts I've read, some of them do not make any sense to me.
One is from post # 83 referring to users that will miss the KML.
"It doesn't matter to them. They don't want to adapt, they just want it the way it was so they don't have to think...and no matter what we say, they don't want to listen."
Well I’m one of those that question the reason and will miss the KML. If the facts are I don't want to adapt to new procedures and methods, why is it I'm a BETA tester for Windows 7? Shouldn't I just sit back and let others hack out the issues and then upgrade only when they stop supporting my DOS 5.0? I’m taking this time to respond to this post because I am a thinker and I question this action because I want more info.
I love to learn new things and am always looking for better way to do tasks. That doesn't mean that I like throwing away perfectly good methods.
I will learn to use the other features and will adapt. But I try not to be a Lemming and follow a path just because I'm told to. The first thing I do is ask "Why" and listen to the explanation. If the explanation doesn't make sense to me or I hear something fishy like "only 200 users" when I know that’s not the truth, I want a better explanation.
I fully understand that Groundspeak does not owe me or anyone else an explanation as to why they want to do something with their website; they are free to do what they wish. I also understand that they are running a business and if they don't listen to their clients it will negatively impact their business.
I personally prefer to give my business to a company that is interested in my opinion and doesn't try to con me.
The other post that made me scratch my head was # 93
"I never used the KML filter that some seem to have loved. I didn't need to, I've always done other things that worked just as well for me and didn't rely on the resource pig Google Earth to work."
If you never used it then how did you know that your method "worked just as well"? Maybe it was faster. Maybe it wasn't, but until you worked with both it’s hard, if not impossible to make an educated comparison.
Another thing I find interesting in this thread is there seems to be only a handful of people that don’t care about the network KML file being put to rest. Yet they seem to be the most vocal. Again, I have to ask myself why? If they have no interest in it, why do they put so much effort in this thread? Will the increase in performance on the site after it’s shutdown be so great that it’s worth all the time and effort they put into monitoring something that in the long run won’t affect them much at all? IMO some comments were downright condescending and really added no value to this thread. If we question Groundspeak and have to change our ways we’re non-thinkers and deaf? That’s harsh.
What’s the true reason for their interests? Groundspeak flag wavers? Forum squatters? Or just wanting to add their comments and be heard? Questions that will never be answered. It just raises a thought in my mind as to why the effort.
Thankfully Geocaching is just a hobby for me and while I do love it, I could do without it. I love getting outside and going places I’ve never been to nor would have ever gone to had it not been for a cache hidden there. I’d still cache even if I couldn’t log my finds. I know a couple of people that do just that.
The numbers are not what are important to me. It’s the search. I would rather spend more time in the field searching for the cache than in front of the computer loading caches onto the GPS’er. I’ll live, I’ll learn a new way, no problem there. It’s just that my old way didn’t appear to be broken. Perhaps it is, but no one has convinced me of that yet so I question it.
I guess the bottom line is do I want to spend my $30 a year with Groundspeak or not? Will they miss me if I don't? I doubt it; they won't even notice that I'm missing other than the canned e-mails reminding me that my membership has expired.
Is the lack of a network KML file the deal breaker between GC.com and myself? Dunno yet. I do know that this issue has raised more questions in my mind than just a missing KML file. I won't repeat them at the risk of being redundant. I have until September to find an answer to this question.
BTW, these questions I ask are rhetorical. Just me… thinking out loud. I’ve already spent more time that I ever wanted to in regards to this issue and have wasted a lot of your time. No need to answer any of them for my sake. I don’t even know If I’ll return to this thread. I guess I wanted my thoughts known and needed to vent.
Since I found the old KML file on one of my old ‘puters and have installed it on my Windows 7 ‘puter, and…. It’s working just fine... right now, I think I’ll load up some caches and go hunting. It sure beats typing.
Happy caching to all and I hope to see you in the field, regardless of what method you use to search for your new caches.
