+geodarts Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 Now that Garmin has abandoned its experiment with a caching website, does anyone notice? Quote
+ChileHead Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 Now that Garmin has abandoned its experiment with a caching website, does anyone notice? Most didn't notice it was there in the first place. Quote
+Manville Possum Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 Garmin is buying Groundspeak. I thought everyone knew about that? Quote
+GeoBain Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 Now that Garmin has abandoned its experiment with a caching website, does anyone notice? Most didn't notice it was there in the first place. I'd beg to differ. I think a lot of people noticed, but didn't care for the way they implemented it. Primarily disliking the rehashing of caches from this site rather than encouraging new, unique caches. And the lack of any real structure was a joke. Had they taken the time to think it through and create something useful, we might have seen some real competition. But what actually happened was more like a knee jerk reaction to a disagreement with tptb and then cobbling together a hurried up, disjointed, reactionary site which never had a chance. Quote
knowschad Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 Now that Garmin has abandoned its experiment with a caching website, does anyone notice? Most didn't notice it was there in the first place. I'd beg to differ. I think a lot of people noticed, but didn't care for the way they implemented it. Primarily disliking the rehashing of caches from this site rather than encouraging new, unique caches. And the lack of any real structure was a joke. Had they taken the time to think it through and create something useful, we might have seen some real competition. But what actually happened was more like a knee jerk reaction to a disagreement with tptb and then cobbling together a hurried up, disjointed, reactionary site which never had a chance. Very well put, GeoBain. That's the way that I see it as well. Quote
knowschad Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 Now that Garmin has abandoned its experiment with a caching website, does anyone notice? Most didn't notice it was there in the first place. True. Just the elite. Quote
+niraD Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 Most didn't notice it was there in the first place.I noticed. And I objected to some of their practices, and chose not to do business with them because of that. Quote
+Michaelcycle Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 Now that Garmin has abandoned its experiment with a caching website, does anyone notice? Most didn't notice it was there in the first place. I'd beg to differ. I think a lot of people noticed, but didn't care for the way they implemented it. Primarily disliking the rehashing of caches from this site rather than encouraging new, unique caches. And the lack of any real structure was a joke. Had they taken the time to think it through and create something useful, we might have seen some real competition. But what actually happened was more like a knee jerk reaction to a disagreement with tptb and then cobbling together a hurried up, disjointed, reactionary site which never had a chance. No, ChileHead is correct. Most (defined as greater than half) geocachers didn't notice it was there in the first place because Garmin, as a GPSr manufacturer, never put out a dedicated geocaching cellphone app. Quote
+GeoBain Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 Now that Garmin has abandoned its experiment with a caching website, does anyone notice? Most didn't notice it was there in the first place. I'd beg to differ. I think a lot of people noticed, but didn't care for the way they implemented it. Primarily disliking the rehashing of caches from this site rather than encouraging new, unique caches. And the lack of any real structure was a joke. Had they taken the time to think it through and create something useful, we might have seen some real competition. But what actually happened was more like a knee jerk reaction to a disagreement with tptb and then cobbling together a hurried up, disjointed, reactionary site which never had a chance. No, ChileHead is correct. Most (defined as greater than half) geocachers didn't notice it was there in the first place because Garmin, as a GPSr manufacturer, never put out a dedicated geocaching cellphone app. They did, but you'll have to Google it for yourself since linking to it here would probably be a no-no. Quote
+narcissa Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 I gave it a shot, but the whole thing got swamped with terrible ideas at the outset so it wasn't actually useful as an alternative, which is too bad. It would be nice if there was an alternative that struck the right balance between senseless populism and extreme elitism. Quote
+Manville Possum Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 Now that Garmin has abandoned its experiment with a caching website, does anyone notice? Most didn't notice it was there in the first place. I'd beg to differ. I think a lot of people noticed, but didn't care for the way they implemented it. Primarily disliking the rehashing of caches from this site rather than encouraging new, unique caches. And the lack of any real structure was a joke. Had they taken the time to think it through and create something useful, we might have seen some real competition. But what actually happened was more like a knee jerk reaction to a disagreement with tptb and then cobbling together a hurried up, disjointed, reactionary site which never had a chance. No, ChileHead is correct. Most (defined as greater than half) geocachers didn't notice it was there in the first place because Garmin, as a GPSr manufacturer, never put out a dedicated geocaching cellphone app. And why would Garmin create a cell phone app when they are in the GPS unit business? I would think the phone apps caused a decline in GPS sales, would it not? I seldom ever use my Garmin for geocaching, or run PQ's for that matter. I can cache on the fly with my android. Quote
+AustinMN Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 Now that Garmin has abandoned its experiment with a caching website, does anyone notice? Most didn't notice it was there in the first place. I learned about it when I got my Garmin, but decided it was silly to split my attention between two sites. I was already established here. The few posts I read about it led me to believe I made the right choice. Quote
+BlackRose67 Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 I think I checked it out, but with thousands of local caches available to me through geocaching.com, I never had a need to actually use it. Now that it's gone, I wonder if they will remove the Awesome filter from the newer GPS firmware. Quote
+Ericles Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 Most cachers didn't notice or care... but Groundspeak certainly did. Around the time that OC.com emerged the GC.com site was pretty stale and hadn't seen any real innovation in years. Suddenly we had new maps, new apps, new cache types, souvenirs, favorite points, etc. Not all of the changes were good (or permanent) but at least Garmin shook things up. I lament they didn't follow through and continue to innovate. Also, Garmin most certainly did have a phone app. It was so bare-bones however that it would have driven you to buy a dedicated GPSr so it was actually a marketing tool for hardware. I jest - everyone knows they are in the business of selling maps. The hardware is just ancillary. Quote
+Michaelcycle Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 Now that Garmin has abandoned its experiment with a caching website, does anyone notice? Most didn't notice it was there in the first place. I'd beg to differ. I think a lot of people noticed, but didn't care for the way they implemented it. Primarily disliking the rehashing of caches from this site rather than encouraging new, unique caches. And the lack of any real structure was a joke. Had they taken the time to think it through and create something useful, we might have seen some real competition. But what actually happened was more like a knee jerk reaction to a disagreement with tptb and then cobbling together a hurried up, disjointed, reactionary site which never had a chance. No, ChileHead is correct. Most (defined as greater than half) geocachers didn't notice it was there in the first place because Garmin, as a GPSr manufacturer, never put out a dedicated geocaching cellphone app. And why would Garmin create a cell phone app when they are in the GPS unit business? I would think the phone apps caused a decline in GPS sales, would it not? I seldom ever use my Garmin for geocaching, or run PQ's for that matter. I can cache on the fly with my android. That was my point. I don't think Garmin saw the massive influx of cellphone players to this game. There wasn't much of a business angle for them once that happened, where would they get revenue to replace the GPSr sales decline? Ericles is correct, they did put out an app (I stand corrected) but it was a dog and it was out for three years or less. Quote
+Manville Possum Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 Now that Garmin has abandoned its experiment with a caching website, does anyone notice? Most didn't notice it was there in the first place. I'd beg to differ. I think a lot of people noticed, but didn't care for the way they implemented it. Primarily disliking the rehashing of caches from this site rather than encouraging new, unique caches. And the lack of any real structure was a joke. Had they taken the time to think it through and create something useful, we might have seen some real competition. But what actually happened was more like a knee jerk reaction to a disagreement with tptb and then cobbling together a hurried up, disjointed, reactionary site which never had a chance. No, ChileHead is correct. Most (defined as greater than half) geocachers didn't notice it was there in the first place because Garmin, as a GPSr manufacturer, never put out a dedicated geocaching cellphone app. And why would Garmin create a cell phone app when they are in the GPS unit business? I would think the phone apps caused a decline in GPS sales, would it not? I seldom ever use my Garmin for geocaching, or run PQ's for that matter. I can cache on the fly with my android. That was my point. I don't think Garmin saw the massive influx of cellphone players to this game. There wasn't much of a business angle for them once that happened, where would they get revenue to replace the GPSr sales decline? Ericles is correct, they did put out an app (I stand corrected) but it was a dog and it was out for three years or less. It makes complete sense to me that Garmin would buy Groundspeak, hence the last block party. The timing of this all seems to agree. Quote
Rock Chalk Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 It makes complete sense to me that Garmin would buy Groundspeak, hence the last block party. The timing of this all seems to agree. No. Just no. Quote
+The Jester Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 It makes complete sense to me that Garmin would buy Groundspeak, hence the last block party. The timing of this all seems to agree. No. Just no. Maybe we have it backwards. Groundspeak is buying Garmin and moving to the Mid-West... Quote
+J Grouchy Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 Or maybe...maybe they just didn't see it take off like they hoped and decided to dedicate their resources to other efforts. Quote
+NeverSummer Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 Or maybe...maybe they just didn't see it take off like they hoped and decided to dedicate their resources to other efforts. And it sure appears that things are back to how I remember them with Garmin--Groundspeak's "Geocaching.com" is now the featured way to play the container-based location game we call "Geocaching". Garmin's GPS units (some) will come pre-loaded with Geocaching.com geocaches, and the Garmin website refers directly to Geocaching.com to get more information or to sign up. Ahh...the good ol' days. Quote
+frinklabs Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 I am glad the site is gone. Their "peer" review system elicited hateful commentary on a cache I submitted there once. Quote
+Manville Possum Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 It makes complete sense to me that Garmin would buy Groundspeak, hence the last block party. The timing of this all seems to agree. No. Just no. Maybe we have it backwards. Groundspeak is buying Garmin and moving to the Mid-West... No, I think now is the time for Groundspeak to sell out and move the HQ to Olathe, KS. Quote
+ChileHead Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 The end was near in the fall of 2013 (I think) when they shut down their forums. The forums were pretty opinionated, with just a few participants. When it shut down it was obvious that they no longer were trying to build a community and instead were just going to go dormant. It will be nice to see our two favorite geocaching companies play nice nice again. However, the golden days of hand held GPS devices is over. The bulk of new cachers start with smartphones, and usually stay with smartphones. I'd be surprised if Garmin invested too much money into new units and functionality, when their bread and butter is more likely car, boat, air navigation (just speculating.) Quote
+narcissa Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 Thanks to "smart cars," the market for separate car GPS systems is shrinking pretty fast too. The niche boat and air markets aren't enough to keep Garmin going if it doesn't innovate somehow. Jumping back into bed with Groundspeak probably isn't the only change they're making. Quote
+J Grouchy Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 The end was near in the fall of 2013 (I think) when they shut down their forums. The forums were pretty opinionated, with just a few participants. When it shut down it was obvious that they no longer were trying to build a community and instead were just going to go dormant. It will be nice to see our two favorite geocaching companies play nice nice again. However, the golden days of hand held GPS devices is over. The bulk of new cachers start with smartphones, and usually stay with smartphones. I'd be surprised if Garmin invested too much money into new units and functionality, when their bread and butter is more likely car, boat, air navigation (just speculating.) They seem to be diving into the "smart watch"/fitness tracker market as well. Quote
+Manville Possum Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 The end was near in the fall of 2013 (I think) when they shut down their forums. The forums were pretty opinionated, with just a few participants. When it shut down it was obvious that they no longer were trying to build a community and instead were just going to go dormant. It will be nice to see our two favorite geocaching companies play nice nice again. However, the golden days of hand held GPS devices is over. The bulk of new cachers start with smartphones, and usually stay with smartphones. I'd be surprised if Garmin invested too much money into new units and functionality, when their bread and butter is more likely car, boat, air navigation (just speculating.) After Garmin released the new GZZ file format that could hold 250,000 plus geocache listings, I thought the site was a experiment in creating the new file format. I'm glad to see them back with Groundspeak now, which I wish they had formed a partnership to begin with. Really, the only good I did see was in the beginning Groundspeak became more competive and gave it's customer base more things of interest and seemed to listen to the users voices, but that was short lived. Quote
+Touchstone Posted August 20, 2015 Posted August 20, 2015 The end was near in the fall of 2013 (I think) when they shut down their forums. The forums were pretty opinionated, with just a few participants. When it shut down it was obvious that they no longer were trying to build a community and instead were just going to go dormant. It will be nice to see our two favorite geocaching companies play nice nice again. However, the golden days of hand held GPS devices is over. The bulk of new cachers start with smartphones, and usually stay with smartphones. I'd be surprised if Garmin invested too much money into new units and functionality, when their bread and butter is more likely car, boat, air navigation (just speculating.) They seem to be diving into the "smart watch"/fitness tracker market as well. According to their 2014 AR, Automotive units were the lions share of their business. Fitness trackers nearly doubled their share of business between 2012-2014 (~12-22%), so it was certainly a market they were very interested in. "Outdoor" units, like we would use for geocaching, have kept up a pretty consistent share over the years (15-16%). Quote
+Shaved Ewok Posted August 20, 2015 Posted August 20, 2015 I wonder where all the butt hurt cachers that are banned on this site will go now, lol. I will miss screwing up their peer review system though. That was always good for a laugh. Quote
+WarNinjas Posted August 20, 2015 Posted August 20, 2015 Well you can thank them for there effort in making there site and app for us being here. I woke up early on a house boat in a tent on top with family sleeping below. I was just looking threw apps on my phone when I found there site about caching. I looked and there were no caches around the lake....well on there site. When we got back home my daughter and I went out and found some. That cache owner was cool and told us about this site. Later I found out there were tuns of caches around that original lake just not on there site. Quote
+on4bam Posted August 20, 2015 Posted August 20, 2015 I wonder where all the butt hurt cachers that are banned on this site will go now, lol. I will miss screwing up their peer review system though. That was always good for a laugh. What a wonderful mindset you have Quote
+Bigmada Posted August 20, 2015 Posted August 20, 2015 It makes complete sense to me that Garmin would buy Groundspeak, hence the last block party. The timing of this all seems to agree. No. Just no. Maybe we have it backwards. Groundspeak is buying Garmin and moving to the Mid-West... No, I think now is the time for Groundspeak to sell out and move the HQ to Olathe, KS. Now that's a drive I could make. With my nuvi of course. Quote
+Manville Possum Posted August 20, 2015 Posted August 20, 2015 I wonder where all the butt hurt cachers that are banned on this site will go now, lol. I will miss screwing up their peer review system though. That was always good for a laugh. What about all of the "Exclusive" listings that were already rejected here because of proxcimity issues? You really do have a point as to why the site was a failure, it was the peer review system. Anyone with an account could game the system, and there were a few that just tryed to sabotage their site for a laugh as you state. Quote
+larryc43230 Posted August 21, 2015 Posted August 21, 2015 For those who were following a thread I started regarding Garmin technical support (in the GPS forum), I can finally report that Garmin has responded. They basically told me what I already knew. But that's not the reason for this post. At the bottom of their message I found the following line: "Become a part of our expanding geocaching community for free by joining www.OpenCaching.com" I'm thinking somebody will need to update that automated blurb. --Larry Quote
+Touchstone Posted August 21, 2015 Posted August 21, 2015 "Become a part of our expanding geocaching community for free by joining www.OpenCaching.com" I'm thinking somebody will need to update that automated blurb. Sounds like someone missed the memo. Quote
+Mineral2 Posted September 8, 2015 Posted September 8, 2015 I doubt garmin is buying Groundspeak, in part because I doubt that Groundspeak would allow Garmin to buy them out. But with Opencaching gone, we might see Garmin contributing support to Groundspeak, and in particular, I'd like to see some of opencaching.com's features implemented at geocaching.com - most notably the ability to download your map view as a single GPX - which could happen if the new search ever replaces pocket queries. I bet the main reason opencaching.com closed is that it relied heavily on the communicator plugin, and Garmin seems to be headed in the direction of modifying its services to operate without the plugin rather than re-develop the communicator plugin. Quote
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