This topic contains 64 replies, has 23 voices, and was last updated by 
Lostby7 14 years, 7 months ago.
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So as not to get too confusing, I figured I’d start this thread for discussion/updates/speculation on Garmin and what they are doing with the opencaching.com domain.
Remember, this has no relation to the opencaching.us site, or any of the opencaching.country sites.
Some links with info:
http://www.opencaching.com
http://itsnotaboutthenumbers.wordpress.com/
http://www.cachemania.com/tag/opencaching/Looks like the site is changing on a weekly basis. They are on their second slogan/catchphrase and they have also just modified the logo (changing it to brown instead of black.)
Hmmm, still not interested.
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Alternative listing sites are not for everybody. I am merely creating a space to discuss what’s out there for everybody that is interested. Even though a person may choose not to use a site or even agree with it being in existence, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s there and will have an effect on the hobby/sport/game that we all enjoy pursuing.
I find it particularly cynical that Garmin chose to take the opencaching.com name, rather than developing their own brand. I’m guessing that those involved in the opencaching program might choose to buy a different GPS brand the next time they are in the market.
“your caches, your devices,
your community”Somehow, I just don’t see Garmin making any kind of website that will work well with DeLorme units.
Jeez… I’m starting to sound like a grouchy old Ludite, but I think Garmin is shooting themself in the foot. Their most likely users would be existing OpenCaching users who will most likely be unhappy with whatever they do. Ticking off the consumers of your core product line just isn’t for business…
When I clicked on the link, I just got the logo and it doesn’t seem to take you anywhere else. What am I missing here? Or is it just a placeholder until they figure out what they want to do with the site?
This whole thing is puzzling. The opencaching.com choice by Garmin was obviously deliberate.
The only way a site is going to really compete against geoaching.com is to roll out an amazing kick-butt site that groundspeak can’t or won’t match (the letterboxing.org and atlasquest.com scenario), and/or be very well funded to get the advertising and pr to get a critical mass of users and caches.
But that would mean that Garmin would be competing against groundspeak, which would seem to be counterproductive for them.
So does that mean they’re trying to “squat” on the opencaching.com domain to mess up things for the national opencaching sites?
But….the opencaching.com domain has been owned for quite a while.
So….I’m confused.
On the Left Side of the Road...Okay, so if I’m understanding this correctly, Garmin may not actually be *doing* anything with opencaching other than taking over that internet domain name? Are they trying to sabotage the efforts of the folks trying to get the site moving?
What others are saying:
Includes a link to view a final screenshot of opencaching.com just before closing down, which has a few interesting tidbits from 2003 – 2005.
They are planning on a competing site. I’m betting it will go live (again) on Friday, just in time for Christmas…
So Garmin thinks they can genercize geocaching? Seems to be biting the hand that feeds it.
Sounds like you have some inside intel. Tell us what you know! Don’t be a tease!
On the Left Side of the Road...From a programmers perspective, the corner of the market I’d go after is the “google” of geocaching. What if the provided a single interface that provided access to all the stats / info from all the various sites (gc.com, opencaching.xx, altas, letterboxing, etc.) into a consolidated spot? Licensing issues? You bet. Great for those that like “numbers”? You bet. And they could include their own additional caches (i.e. chirp) as well.
I have no idea where they’re going, but I do agree that a vendor sponsored site is going to be tricky business if they’re going to support other non-Garmin devices.
Basically, this is supposed to be a straight, competitive site, not some sort of meta-site. Think opencaching.us except sponsored by Garmin. They will have to persuade people to relist on their site, unless they license data from Groundspeak, Terracaching, etc, which isn’t likely to happen. Quite frankly, Jay’s approach (providing a single point of contact for all things GPS/hide oriented) would be more likely to be successful. Stealing the URL from opencaching.xxx doesn’t seem like a real good way to attract the small number of users looking for an alternative.
Just another alternate site that isn’t gonna go anywhere like the rest.
I knew something was up when Garmin removed the Groundspeak logo off of the Oregon and used a generic icon for the Geocaches.
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