GPS Phones on BBC News

[+TheWhoUK]

Hello All,

 

Theres a feature on GPS phones on BBC news click magazine programme, If you missed it theres an extended version here

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_49...s=1&bbcws=1

 

Cheers TheWhoUK

[+SidAndBob]

It's inevitable, but Geocaching will really become available to the masses. Kids with a GPS phone will be able to hunt and destroy their local caches for a laugh and with no cost to them. Geocaching.com need to act soon and charge a fee to everyone.

[+HazelS]

I'm afraid I agree with this.... Not very often will you hear me say "make it selective" but I think sidandbob have a valid point.

[+Cushie Butterfield]

Or, kids with a GPS phone could discover Geocaching and join the sport, some of them are actually quite nice people. There's plenty of plundering going on in our area and it's not down to youngsters

Edited March 8, 2008 by Team Skully

[+Birders]

We've been premium members almost since we started and our caches are only available to premium members. It's not a huge deterrent, but it might ensure that the average yob won't find them if he doesn;t fork out.

[+SidAndBob]

Or, kids with a GPS phone could discover Geocaching and join the sport, some of them are actually quite nice people.

<PC mode>We all know most kids are sound, but these kids aren't the one's affecting this topic.</PC mode>

[+Cushie Butterfield]

<UN-PC mode>The ones affecting this topic probably couldn't spell geocaching to get here in the first place.</UN-PC mode>

[+Matrix]

Or, kids with a GPS phone could discover Geocaching and join the sport, some of them are actually quite nice people. There's plenty of plundering going on in our area and it's not down to youngsters

 

I agree

[+Bill D (wwh)]

Anyone who wants to trash members' only caches can do so for a one-off payment of approximately 1.50 GBP, by signing up for premium membership on monthly payments, making the first payment then cancelling their subscription when they've got all the info they need.

 

I've been caching since September 2002, and I began as an ordinary non-paying member - I doubt if I would have signed up and paid a fee to try something that may not have appealed to me after all when I tried it. Let's not deter newcomers because of a tiny minority of vandals.

[+jerryo]

Anyone who wants to trash members' only caches can do so for a one-off payment of approximately 1.50 GBP, by signing up for premium membership on monthly payments, making the first payment then cancelling their subscription when they've got all the info they need.

You've missed the point. If kids get their little mitts on GPS they can go out and have a trash fest if they want to by merely logging onto geocaching.com. They won't be geared up to pay anything online, would lose interest, and traipse off to the shops to buy their White Lightning instead - or get someone else to. There would be no intent to be organised about it. People who do what you suggest are those who already have problems with caching, be it personal or otherwise and that's a different kettle of fish. Now there's an idea for a cache.

[+The Hornet]

I would guess that any lowlife who decides to use their GPS phone would probably not be someone who relishes a physical challenge such as a short stroll in the countryside. They would more likely be someone who hangs around a street corner in an urban setting somewhere. Just the sort of place that is likely to house a lame urban micro

 

I'm thinking, if they start trashing those might it be such a bad thing and might it encourage people to look for more "challenging" locations? Hmm!

[+kewfriend]

I would guess that any lowlife who decides to use their GPS phone would probably not be someone who relishes a physical challenge such as a short stroll in the countryside. They would more likely be someone who hangs around a street corner in an urban setting somewhere. Just the sort of place that is likely to house a lame urban micro

 

I'm thinking, if they start trashing those might it be such a bad thing and might it encourage people to look for more "challenging" locations? Hmm!

Not often a Hornet stirs its own nest

 

Kewfriend is not a completely GRUMPY oldie and generally gives 'youf' the B.O.D. - having raised three teenagers. Still we could follow BA and BAA and insist that all logins to seek cache details are completed with a finger print and iris scan, checked against details held on a National ID Database, just 'in case' - of course

[+Sue and Bernie]

You could consider placing multi-caches.

 

We have only placed two caches, each with a series of mini-caches that involve a good 3-5 mile stroll. The prospect of a relatively short walk in the countryside seems to be effective in detering able-bodied cachers so we're not at all concerned that vandals might decide to visit!

 

[Beefy4605]

Well as a newbie here (first post) I stumbled across this whole thing on the net. The reason I have signed up and am taking up this as a hobby is because of the very fact that I can use my mobile phone and do not have to go out and buy a specific device.

Admitidely I'm not a youf but I dont think they will be much of a problem because they seem to be more interested in text messages and cider than a good stroll in the countryside.

Edited March 9, 2008 by Beefy4605

[+MartyBartfast]

You could consider placing multi-caches.

 

We have only placed two caches, each with a series of mini-caches that involve a good 3-5 mile stroll. The prospect of a relatively short walk in the countryside seems to be effective in detering able-bodied cachers so we're not at all concerned that vandals might decide to visit!

 

 

Good idea!

[+Dark_Faerie]

Well as a newbie here (first post) I stumbled across this whole thing on the net. The reason I have signed up and am taking up this as a hobby is because of the very fact that I can use my mobile phone and do not have to go out and buy a specific device.

Admitidely I'm not a youf but I dont think they will be much of a problem because they seem to be more interested in text messages and cider than a good stroll in the countryside.

 

I was put off for years by the prospect of spending £100 on a hobby I might not enjoy. After camping with friends who are cachers last September, I was hooked and managed to get BTGPS for my phone for £25. I had actually been on the website and forums 2-3 years ago to find out what my friends were up to on the way to my house.

[Beefy4605]

It appeals to me because although I'm a gardener by trade at the weekends I drive an HGV all over the UK and Ireland .So when I park up for the night and have an hour or two to spare I can do a little caching and could help to move items round the country.

Hoping to get my first one tomorrow.

[+HazelS]

Just the sort of place that is likely to house a lame urban micro

 

 

Some "lame urban micros" are actually fantastic caches!!!!!

[+Acidmouse]

I seriously doubt any so called "yobs" or people likely to trash caches would go to such lengths as to find them via the website and go out of their way to disturb/smash a hidden plastic tub.

 

I feel with the new gps phones it will encourage a whole new wave of Geocaching enthusiasts, which is a positive thing. It gets people out and about and might just decrease the average age of a typical geocacher!

 

I just get the impression some people on here want to keep this fantastic hobby a closed shop, hidden secret, which is a real shame.

 

The idea of charging people to use the website to prevent some form of caching trashing by this "new" phone gps generation is almost absurd.

Edited March 11, 2008 by Acidmouse

[+careygang]

There's been some emotive comments on here about young people with GPS Phones on a mission to trash Caches.

 

Firstly, these have been available in the USA for quite a while See Here and I'm sure it hasn't caused problems stateside.

 

Secondly, we put up with some of our fellow Cachers pilfering Geocoins for adding to their private collections, like some form of Art Theft, which to my mind is a far greater crime, given the cost that people have invested in producing Coins.

(Yes, I have just had a Coin stolen after just ONE move - I released it to share, and some (insert own preferred expletive) misappropriates it.)

 

So lets give the Kids a chance - Geocaching will be far too much like hard work for the type of person that has been referred to.

Edited March 11, 2008 by careygang

[+Cryptik Souls Crew]

Firstly, these have been available in the USA for quite a while See Here and I'm sure it hasn't caused problems stateside.

 

That software has been available for less than 2 months and only works with high end phones which in the USA still cost a fair bit. No free phone with a contract like we get over here... I don't think its availability shows a trend for or against gps enabled phones causing issues.

 

Still, no matter, I don't think all the kids are going to have gps phones anytime soon, its still going to take a few years for the feature to filter through to all handsets, and even then I doubt very much we are going to be overrun by hoodies trashing caches left, right and centre.

 

I ditched my standalone gps in favour of using my phone for caching a couple of years ago and have never looked back. As someone else commented it would be good if the implementation of gps into handsets helped to lower the average age of cachers a bit!

[+Simply Paul]

A couple of years ago I saw GPS-enabled phones being demo'd at a telecoms trade show. The software was like tomtom (not ideal for caching) and packed with POIs like McDonalds, PizzaHut, Costa Coffee and Subway shops. Any yoof worth the title is likely to get distracted by fast food before they ever get to a cache.

 

Anything that makes caching more known and accessible makes it more open to misuse. It also makes it more open to keen families, retired folk and your common-or-garden geo-geek (you know who you are!) - and they'll be setting faster than any muggles (or technically 'evil cachers', I suppose) can muggle. So, it's not all bad news.

 

As for 'quick, charge everyone' thinking, I'm very glad that it's a cornerstone of Groundspeak and Geocaching.com that caching will always be free (premium members pay for premium features, not to cache) - As a little experiment, if you send me £1 by paypal I'll email you the co-ords for ten caches I've hidden which aren't listed on GC.com. Any takers?

[+Team CLAT]

Charging all members is a really silly idea - there are lots of geocachers who are not prepared to pay the subscription, and who would just give up the hobby and find something else to do if it became compulsory. Charging everyone would be far more damaging to geocaching as a whole that the remote risk of a few hooligans with a GPS phone trashing the odd urban cache here and there. Cache owners have the choice to make their caches members-only if they want the extra protection that restricted access can offer, or they can choose to make the cache available to everyone for free.