Where do you see Geocaching in 10 years

[+GEOJuice]

Have you noticed that over the past few years the GPS technology HAS taken giant leaps and bounds? DO you ever wonder how the technology is driving the sport of Geocaching? Where do you see the sport of Geocaching in 10 years from now…

 

I see the sport of Geocaching eventually transform in order to follow the radiply increasing GPSr technology. I see the Cache Container fading off, It’s swag, and Logs gone. The extinct container replaced with a magnetic data storage device, similar to a credit card. Maybe has a small pocket for a TB Which is Also equipped with a Magnetic strip… The Geocacher would only have to SWIPE the GPSr in proximity of the Cache, where all the information would be recorded. Pre-formatted log entries would reside in the GPSr with the Cachers ID information…

 

That is probably where the game will be in ten years

[+StarBrand]

Have you noticed that over the past few years the GPS technology HAS taken giant leaps and bounds? DO you ever wonder how the technology is driving the sport of Geocaching? Where do you see the sport of Geocaching in 10 years from now…

 

I see the sport of Geocaching eventually transform in order to follow the radiply increasing GPSr technology. I see the Cache Container fading off, It’s swag, and Logs gone. The extinct container replaced with a magnetic data storage device, similar to a credit card. Maybe has a small pocket for a TB Which is Also equipped with a Magnetic strip… The Geocacher would only have to SWIPE the GPSr in proximity of the Cache, where all the information would be recorded. Pre-formatted log entries would reside in the GPSr with the Cachers ID information…

 

That is probably where the game will be in ten years

???? I hope not.........

 

The activity itself has not really changed very much since May of 2000. I don't see many fundamental changes coming. The containers and the swag and the logs are all very integral parts of Geocaching. My kids love the cheap swag and the family time. The logs are like storytelling and are one of the most compelling reasons to hide a cache.

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

Have you noticed that over the past few years the GPS technology HAS taken giant leaps and bounds? DO you ever wonder how the technology is driving the sport of Geocaching? Where do you see the sport of Geocaching in 10 years from now…

 

I see the sport of Geocaching eventually transform in order to follow the radiply increasing GPSr technology. I see the Cache Container fading off, It’s swag, and Logs gone. The extinct container replaced with a magnetic data storage device, similar to a credit card. Maybe has a small pocket for a TB Which is Also equipped with a Magnetic strip… The Geocacher would only have to SWIPE the GPSr in proximity of the Cache, where all the information would be recorded. Pre-formatted log entries would reside in the GPSr with the Cachers ID information…

 

That is probably where the game will be in ten years

???? I hope not.........

 

The activity itself has not really changed very much since May of 2000. I don't see many fundamental changes coming. The containers and the swag and the logs are all very integral parts of Geocaching. My kids love the cheap swag and the family time. The logs are like storytelling and are one of the most compelling reasons to hide a cache.

I agree with StarBrand, but really -- as has already unequivocally been established on several other recent threads -- this is all very likely a moot point, as the world is likely gonna end somewhere between February 14, 2012 and December 23, 2012. Since the end of the world in the year 2012 has been predicted by the ancient Mayans (at least according to some modern self-styled interpreters/translators of ancient Mayan documents) and also by many New Age afficionados and also by numerous websites (and we all know that anything you read on the web must be true), there is simply no doubt that the world will indeed end sometime in 2012, and thus there will be no world left 10 years from now.

[+MountainRacer]

I wouldn't mind caching on the Moon.

 

Really, though, I don't see the game changing a whole lot in ten years or so. GPS units may get marginally more accurate, smaller, or with longer battery life, but I can't foresee a technological revolution that would fundamentally change the way the game is played. The only major shift would be if global climate change triggered a serious dying-off in forests, or some such catastrophe.

[+ScoutingWV]

I'm still not over the whole Y2K thing.

[+klipsch49er]

Most likely scenario(s):

 

Terrorists use hand held GPS devices to execute coordinated multi-location attacks. Congress immediatly authorizes the military to scramble GPS signals so that they become unusable for many consumer applications.

 

Since everyone is so worried about "global warming", nobody pays any attention to the fact that there are just too many people and no matter what we do the limited resources will be the issue. Geocaching would vanish as people would lack the disposable income or resources.

 

Apophis's orbit has been misscalculated by NASA or negatively effected by other factors and it impacts earth in it's close fly by in 2012. Maybe the Mayans at work?

 

Cell phone manufacturers incorporate GPS locators in their subtutainius implants so that you really do have a geosence.

 

I could learn to spell and type.

 

I could go on......

Edited January 16, 2008 by klipsch49er

[+Sand-Man]

Most likely scenario(s):

 

Terrorists use hand held GPS devices to execute coordinated multi-location attacks. Congress immediatly authorizes the military to scramble GPS signals so that they become unusable for many consumer applications.

 

Since everyone is so worried about "global warming", nobody pays any attention to the fact that there are just too many people and no matter what we do the limited resources will be the issue. Geocaching would vanish as people would lack the disposable income or resources.

 

Apophis's orbit has been misscalculated by NASA or negatively effected by other factors and it impacts earth in it's close fly by in 2012. Maybe the Mayans at work?

 

Cell phone manufacturers incorporate GPS locators in their subtutainius implants so that you really do have a geosence.

 

I could learn to spell and type.

 

I could go on......

 

If all that happens, and since I read it here it must be imminent, it would be fun to go back to the old map and compass...... I retire in 2011 so that would give me a whole year to travel and Cache...

[+Seasoned Warrior]

 

If all that happens, and since I read it here it must be imminent, it would be fun to go back to the old map and compass...... I retire in 2011 so that would give me a whole year to travel and Cache...

 

It would be kind of fun to dust off the old theodolite and do a set of star sights to determine lat and long, now that would actually add some challange to the game. I used to cruise timber and run lines for harvest boundaries Summers while going to college back in the '60s and that was how we determined our point of beginning and where we were. I always enjoyed that so much more than doing surveying in the cities during school: all that time in the office doing closures, bah!

[+BlueDeuce]

I see finding a cache in a Walmart. It'll be a in display case that you 'find' by going through the store. Of course it'll cost ya 35 cents but that'll allow you premium membership privileges for one login period, not to be exceeded by 10 minutes.

 

The off-topic forum will be long gone and forever forgotten.

[Mushtang]

In 10 years...

 

We'll all be wearing silver colored clothing with rings around our ankles and wrists

 

Robots will clean our houses for us.

 

We'll take the flying car to the park to go geocaching.

 

GPS units will be built into everything, and a single device will house every gadget you can think of such as phone, music player, GPS, clock, and some technology that hasn't been invented yet.

 

The GPS accuracy in these units will be so high that it'll lead you right to the nano cache.

 

There will still be debates in these forums about micros, LPCs, permission, guns, etc.

 

And the Friends feature will let you list your friends on the friends page, but still do nothing else.

[+TrailGators]

this is all very likely a moot point, as the world is likely gonna end somewhere between February 14, 2012 and December 23, 2012. Since the end of the world in the year 2012 has been predicted by the ancient Mayans (at least according to some modern self-styled interpreters/translators of ancient Mayan documents) and also by many New Age afficionados and also by numerous websites (and we all know that anything you read on the web must be true), there is simply no doubt that the world will indeed end sometime in 2012, and thus there will be no world left 10 years from now.

 

I guess that means that Hillary will lose this year and win in 2012....

 

I can't see the container going away because there will be 10 million more micros hidden in the next ten years....

[+cache_test_dummies]

In 10 years, Snoogans will owe me $25.

 

[Mushtang]

In 10 years, Snoogans will owe me $25.

And you'll be able to buy a gallon of gas to go caching.

[+KJcachers]

the original post sounds like Wherigo. go to a specific coordinate and your GPSr triggers an event within a program that gives you more info. Although the OP would have you swipe a card athe cache site to get the trigger.

[+Kit Fox]

I see a future of geocaching where the search function is automatically parsed before a new thread is posted Future of Geocaching

 

Flash Drive caches

 

I envision a future of geocaching where the following occurs:

 

Great caches hidden in scenic locations are skipped in lieu of park & grabs requiring zero effort. (already happening )

 

Nice logs disappear and are replaced by "TFTC."

 

Caching is banned in nice areas because of taterheads that can't follow cache page instructions (caching after park hours)

 

Caching is banned in nice areas because of pinhead managers.

[+9Key]

In 10 years...

 

* I'll still be caching and 95% of everyone caching now will have moved on to something else.

* Briansnat will have more than 150,000 posts.

* Snoogans and his family of 12 will have their own "virtual" reality TV show.

[+Team Black-Cat]

I think the OP may have an overly optimistic estimate of the speed that new technology is adopted or adapted into everyday use. It's taken cell phones decades to finally become commonplace. VCR and DVD player manufactures took the digital clocks off of their units because most consumers couldn't figure out how to make them stop blinking 12:00.

Other than the ultra-accurate GPS system, all of the individual parts are already available to make scanning your finds possible. Requiring the finder to scan an RFID tag might be an interesting twist, but most people don't have an RFID scanner, and won't in ten years.

GPS will not improve very much beyond where it is today. Wireless Internet access is becoming more and more ubiquitous, but the most remote areas (where caches should be) will still not have any signal. Cell phone quality and coverage WILL improve, and might have some influence. Wherigo will probably become useable and be incorporated into a lot of caches.

There will probably a lot of evolution in caching, but I think the can and log book will always be there.

[square_peg]

It would be kind of fun to dust off the old theodolite and do a set of star sights to determine lat and long, now that would actually add some challange to the game.....

 

Indeed it would add some challenge. How would you determine your longitude from the stars?

[+WRASTRO]

Have you noticed that over the past few years the GPS technology HAS taken giant leaps and bounds? DO you ever wonder how the technology is driving the sport of Geocaching? Where do you see the sport of Geocaching in 10 years from now…

 

I see the sport of Geocaching eventually transform in order to follow the radiply increasing GPSr technology. I see the Cache Container fading off, It’s swag, and Logs gone. The extinct container replaced with a magnetic data storage device, similar to a credit card. Maybe has a small pocket for a TB Which is Also equipped with a Magnetic strip… The Geocacher would only have to SWIPE the GPSr in proximity of the Cache, where all the information would be recorded. Pre-formatted log entries would reside in the GPSr with the Cachers ID information…

 

That is probably where the game will be in ten years

???? I hope not.........

 

The activity itself has not really changed very much since May of 2000. I don't see many fundamental changes coming. The containers and the swag and the logs are all very integral parts of Geocaching. My kids love the cheap swag and the family time. The logs are like storytelling and are one of the most compelling reasons to hide a cache.

I agree with StarBrand, but really -- as has already unequivocally been established on several other recent threads -- this is all very likely a moot point, as the world is likely gonna end somewhere between February 14, 2012 and December 23, 2012. Since the end of the world in the year 2012 has been predicted by the ancient Mayans (at least according to some modern self-styled interpreters/translators of ancient Mayan documents) and also by many New Age afficionados and also by numerous websites (and we all know that anything you read on the web must be true), there is simply no doubt that the world will indeed end sometime in 2012, and thus there will be no world left 10 years from now.

 

I am thinking that this is all a ruse by Vinny and that HE will be in charge of the World in 10 years. Or maybe Jeremy.

 

Realistically, I think our game will be essentially the same as it is now. We hide stuff, we find stuff, we complain about how everyone else hides stuff and finds stuff. LPMs will be the only valid Traditional hide method. Everything else will be "unknown".

[+Nachtraaf]

At the moment you are the search engine

 

In ten years you are the gps receiver

 

In twenty years you are the cache in a container

 

:-P

 

Greetings,

Hans

[+Kryten]

In ten years the Russian, Japanese and European GPS satellites may be in place. We could be looking at much better positional accuracy.

[+team lagonda]

in ten years there will be major cache saturation and you,ll be lucky to get a visit to your particular caches once a year..alot of people will lose interest becauce caches are everywhere and so numeous and the reason stated above..

Edited January 16, 2008 by team lagonda

[BRTango]

In ten years Groundspeak will have taken over the United Nations and geocaching will be what runs the world. If you need milk, you better be FTF on that new "Cloned Cow" cache set up by Koffi_Anan33.

 

Wars will be fought between geocaching, Waymarking, Wherigo factions. Smaller conflicts will be fought amongst the various tribal factions within these communities. Nano and Micro LPC clans will fight with Letterbox Hybrid clans; mystery clans will fight against multi-clans (those will be longer and more drawn out due to having to puzzle defenses that have to be solved in order to find the battleground, and the fact that once your at the battleground, you'll just get coords for the next leg of the battle).

 

The mail system will be completely defunct. If you want to send mail, packages, etc... they have to be trackable by GC.com, and be moved from cache to cache. It may take years for those flowers you ordered for your mom's birthday to arrive... unless Stargate caches drop the 500 mile limit requirement.

 

During all of this... World Emporer Jeremy the Great (self titled), will be sitting behind his desk (imagine Montgomery C. Burns here) constantly saying "Eeeexxxcelent"

[magellan315]

In ten years I will have found 1000 caches, own a yellow jeep, and will still mourn the loss of Mitsuko and the joy she brought to these forums.

[+JohnnyVegas]

IN ten years I see geocaching banded in some state parks and city parks

[+StarBrand]

IN ten years I see geocaching banded in some state parks and city parks

How are we going to get these around geocaches........

 

[+Miragee]

IN ten years I see geocaching banned in some state parks and city parks

Fixed

 

And, around here, that is happening already. Rangers, and Park Volunteers, have been removing caches from the largest State Park in the Country, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, WITHOUT posting notes to that effect on most of the cache pages. This means cachers have serched fruitlessly for caches that are no longer there . . .

 

In some San Diego County Parks, the caches are also being removed. At least those Rangers are letting the cache owners know about it.

 

So . . . around here, the way it is going, the only caches in ten years will be those found on guard rails or under lamp post skirts . . .

[+-Hawk-]

It would be interesting to see what Jeremy envisions for this sport 10 years from now.

[+TheFortuneFinders]

On the way to school this morning, my son asked if an astronaut could hide a geocache on the moon. I said "Sure, but nobody could find it ... yet". (Which lead to a whole conversation about GPS satellites orbiting the earth and not the moon ... yet). In 10 yrs ~ doubt it ... but someday ~ You betcha!

[+eagletrek]

Most people will have lost interest in geocaching and will have moved on to something else and the government will establish a super-fund to take care of all the Geo-trash left in the wild. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!!!!!!

[CacheNCarryMA]

this is all very likely a moot point, as the world is likely gonna end somewhere between February 14, 2012 and December 23, 2012. Since the end of the world in the year 2012 has been predicted by the ancient Mayans

 

In that case, can I have your GPSr?

 

I foresee one of two scenarios:

 

Worldwide peace brought about by the current administration's successful war on terror and ample leisure time due to technological advancements and an average five hour work-week, will allow us to seek out caches from our flying cars. I say "from" our flying cars because nano-robots will do the actual work of recovering the cache and signing the log. Cache logging will be done through the uplink module implanted in our heads.

 

~OR~

 

All technology, including satellites, will be controlled by the one multi-national corporation remaining on the planet. Geocachers and personal electronics enthusiasts will battle one another, scrounging for the meager numbers of remaining AA batteries. Any activities on the surface of the planet will be curtailed, due to the need to limit exposure to the high dioxin levels in the air and increased UV radiation due to the depleted ozone layer.

 

Since the Corporation controls all communication, the only caches that will be left to seek will be those whose cache pages are found on PDAs loaded with CacheMate that survived the "Incident" in 2010. Caching will involve "stealing" GPS signals. All caches will have the same hint, "HAQRE QROEVF CVYR"

 

A mysterious man from the West, will be sent to rescue us all. His name? Future Snoogans!

 

In either case, in 2018, letterboxing will remain unchanged. ..and Magellan will be releasing the firmware upgrades for the current Triton bugs.

Edited January 16, 2008 by CacheNCarryMA

[+eigengott]

DO you ever wonder how the technology is driving the sport of Geocaching? Where do you see the sport of Geocaching in 10 years from now…

 

Everyone will be equipped with a mobile internet device then. The geocache listings can therefore be accessed right on the spot - the value of pocket queries will diminish, except for the extended search functionality. GPS will be in those devices as well. Actually, this technology already exists...

 

Otherwise I don't see big change. The split between urban microcaching and rural geocaching will deepen, the rate that newbies drop out will go up and the prices for equipment will go down.

Edited January 16, 2008 by eigengott

[Luckless]

Where do you see the sport of Geocaching in 10 years from now…

The changes are already available. Interactive caches like Wherigo.

[+JohnnyVegas]

Banded I have got to drink more coffee before I get in the forums

[+StarBrand]

Banded I have got to drink more coffee before I get in the forums

Its ok - I hadn't had my code red for the afternoon either......

[+TrailGators]

Everyone will be equipped with a mobile internet device then. The geocache listings can therefore be accessed right on the spot - the value of pocket queries will diminish, except for the extended search functionality. GPS will be in those devices as well. Actually, this technology already exists...

I agree with this. The cool stuff that is rare/expensive now will become commonplace in 10 years. Look back 10 years ago and then look at the stuff around you now.

[+JohnnyVegas]

In ten years cachers might be saying "Remember the old days when caches had to be more than 100 feet apart"

[Mushtang]

It would be interesting to see what Jeremy envisions for this sport 10 years from now.

Remember when he used to post in the forums more than once every 10 years?

[+TexasGringo]

***Since the end of the world in the year 2012 has been predicted by the ancient Mayans ***

 

Today the StockMarket crashs....the next thing you know...the world ends. Dang!

[+SidAndBob]

I see the sport of Geocaching eventually transform in order to follow the radiply increasing GPSr technology. I see the Cache Container fading off, It’s swag, and Logs gone. The extinct container replaced with a magnetic data storage device, similar to a credit card. Maybe has a small pocket for a TB Which is Also equipped with a Magnetic strip… The Geocacher would only have to SWIPE the GPSr in proximity of the Cache, where all the information would be recorded. Pre-formatted log entries would reside in the GPSr with the Cachers ID information…

The cache container will disappear completely. In a Wherigo fashion the GPSr knows if you've been to a location - you may have to complete some task - then the unit will register your find. There would be no permission issues, no geo-trash, no muggled caches. Trade items will thankfully disappear (I'm sure they could be replaced by something though), TB's would be virtual and never get stolen. The GPSr would record (or video) your log so others could play it back. People will just say "Thanks man" (or have a pre-recorded message saying "Thanks man") because anything else is too much effort.

Your GPSr will be relaying information to the GC servers, so it can inform you of any cache updates as well as where other cachers are, so you won't have to go through the "are they or aren't they?" scenario.

There will be no proximity issues as you would only be allowed to see new caches once you'd completed older ones in the area if there are any proximity issues, so there will be millions of cache (most will be lame).

 

You won't have a GPSr, it will be integrated (as will everything else) onto your mobile phone. Garmin won't exist - they'll have been swallowed up by a phone company.

 

OK, so probably in 20 years rather than 10, but it will happen - assuming the planet is still going then.

 

P.S. We'll all be dressed in Signal the Frog suits, but it wasn't explained why in my dream.