Jump to content

The Other Site


geodarts

Recommended Posts

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.

Link to comment

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.

Link to comment

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.

Link to comment

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.

Link to comment

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.

Link to comment

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.

Link to comment

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. ;)

Link to comment

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.

Link to comment

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. :ph34r:

Link to comment

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.

Link to comment

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.)

Link to comment

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.

Link to comment

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.

Link to comment

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%).

Link to comment

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.

Link to comment

It makes complete sense to me that Garmin would buy Groundspeak, hence the last block party. The timing of this all seems to agree. :ph34r:

 

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. B)

 

Now that's a drive I could make. With my nuvi of course.

Link to comment

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? :laughing:

 

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.

Link to comment

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. :rolleyes:

 

--Larry

Link to comment

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.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...