garmin

Scoble (and others) ask, Do GPS’s work for you?

Well, I’ve got a Garmin eTrex and I use i mainly for hiking and biking, but occasionally also use it when driving (even though it is a handheld unit.)

So does it work? Yes… for what I currently use it for. Simple things. Mileage, speed, navigation, etc. The basics. Could it do more? Oh yes… Hopefully at some point, I’ll be able to attach the thing to my Mac to easily get data into and out of it. I can’t really do that yet, meaning I technically can get the data in and out, but it’s a pain. Garmin has never been to nice to the Mac platform, though that is (supposedly) changing.

I’ve been saying the geolocative services are just going to get bigger and bigger… and they are, but we really need the hardware folks to get on board with that, and give us the tools we need to make it happen.

Until then, I’ll be using about 25% of my GPS. Garmin, get on the ball, make me love what I can do with your product so I can blog about it all the time.

Oh sure, I know, there are people (and companies) out there that don’t like Apple, or those pesky Macs they keep making. (Weren’t they supposed to go out of business 10 years ago?) Now when it comes to companies not liking Apple, you might think Microsoft tops the list, unless you think of Apple as Microsoft’s R&D Department. Anyway, from what I hear, if you want to find Mac-hating, look to Garmin.

Dig through the macmap Yahoo! Group and you’ll find many messages about this subject, here’s a good one that mentioned how Garmin has never supported the Mac and has no intention of doing so.

So what are Mac-owning potential GPS buyers to do? Well, we can either hope that Garmin changes it’s tune and supports the Mac at some point (unlikely?) or try to find another company that will support the computers we use. (doubtful?)

I’m considering the purchase of a GPS this year, and Garmin is making it very hard for me to send any of my money their way since there seems to be little chance they will support my choice of computing platform.

Garmin = Jerks