Magellan done with navigation devices?

[ryguyMN]

Looks like Magellan is one step closer to it's grave....

 

http://www.gpsbusinessnews.com/index.php?a...amp;numero=1022

Edited September 6, 2008 by ryguyMN

[+trainlove]

Looks like Magellan is one step closer to it's grave....

 

R.I.P.

 

But actually I'll be dancing on their grave.

 

Good riddance.

 

Harsh words for sure but they took the good name of a great world explorer and turned it into a joke in the navigation world.

 

http://ray.jerome.jobs.googlepages.com/majormagellanproblem

 

Now if anyone can get their hands on any of their propriatary internal information about their firmware, mcore microcode, registers... and so on for their 'Legacy Products', those of us saddled with the diminishing numbers of their devices might not be so out of luck in the future.

Edited September 6, 2008 by trainlove

[+roadrage64]

This is a good example of what poor customer service does to a company. No suprises here.

[+Jhwk]

This is a good example of what poor customer service does to a company. No surprises here.

and crappy, ill supported and buggy hardware and software.

 

great idea, failingly executed.

[+Hrethgir]

A guy at work who is pretty much an irritant to everyone there recently bought a Magellan GPS for his car. When he told me that, I was so happy that he ended up buying a turd sandwich! He probably thinks he got a top-of-the-line unit, though, because he probably spent a lot of money on it, and he seems to think that higher price = better product. That's why he just bought a BowFlex Revolution ($2500) instead of a standard weight machine that would have done the same thing for a quarter to a third of the price. He pretty much even said that you can tell it's better because of how much it cost. Anyways, hope he enjoys his Magellan!

[+woffles]

I hope for one that they don't. The Triton series is an upgrade or two away from being a really good unit. I'm waiting for the next firmware to see what issues they fix and features they implement. Once you learn your way around the unit it's easy to use. Not as intuitive as a Garmin but still easy to use. Haven't had to deal with their customer service yet so can't comment on that. I have the Triton 500. It comes pretty bare but I changed out the basemap so it has some detail and installed my NG TOPO maps. I love having real TOPO maps with me in the unit instead of paper. The GEOCaching still needs a little work but it's pretty much point and click. I think people judged it too quick when it first came out and was given a bad rap. I may add some Accuterra maps to it next to see how those work. YMMV

[+RRLover]

Man, . . . if I could only stuff the PN-40 guts in my dormant XL.

Sure it's the size of a dump-truck, & ya have to tie a beach-ball to it to make it float.

The screen is BIG & BRIGHT (like use it as a flashlight bright), yet readable in sunlight

w/no backlight. Resolution very close, if not the same as my LifeDrive, but uses 4 AAs.

Their file management for tracks, routes, and user POIs would be missed.

I can only wonder what it would have evolved into had Maggie not "Shot for the moon"!

There were many hints about the onboard software evolution the observant could pick up

on (guess it was a test-bed for the Triton?). They always mentioned on their site features

were results of user polls, yet I never got any response from any "user(s)" when I tried

to take a head-count here a year ago. Truly, a "silent majority".

 

Norm

[+Renegade Knight]

A guy at work who is pretty much an irritant to everyone there recently bought a Magellan GPS for his car. When he told me that, I was so happy that he ended up buying a turd sandwich! He probably thinks he got a top-of-the-line unit, though, because he probably spent a lot of money on it, and he seems to think that higher price = better product. That's why he just bought a BowFlex Revolution ($2500) instead of a standard weight machine that would have done the same thing for a quarter to a third of the price. He pretty much even said that you can tell it's better because of how much it cost. Anyways, hope he enjoys his Magellan!

They make a pretty good car GPS. Your irritant didn't do so bad there. Garmin is headed down the same path. Good customer service can't keep you afloat if your products are not doing the job. I still have my GPS V. They still haven't come out with something that would tempt me to upgrade. For example, a normal drive for me would have 3500 waypoints that I could hunt. As far as I can tell they still want to limit me to 1000 waypoints. That's just one example. They are trying and the Oregon and Colorado are proof of that. But even in trying they are keeping their mindset in a corporate box. They could buy palm, (The OS and the Company) put that in a car stereo, add in GPS, stick a few ports on the box and a music app and have a great Car Computer/Stereo. But that's too far outside the box. Or they could just use Linux.

Edited September 9, 2008 by Renegade Knight

[+g-o-cashers]

Or they could just use Linux.

 

Seems like they might be doing that. From Garmin's site (sorry I couldn't get a link):

 

Embedded Linux Software Engineer-08000GD

 

Description

 

Develop software for GARMIN's communication and navigation products in a team-oriented environment.

 

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

 

* Develop software in C, C++, or other selected languages for either embedded or application development for desktop Linux

* Develop GARMIN communication and navigation products in accordance with GARMIN's software development methodology

 

[stuff deleted]

 

* Knowledge of the Linux kernel and device drivers

* Experience with ARM processors and their architecture

 

Job Software Engineering

Primary LocationUSA-KS-Olathe