MnGCA

[AerosmithPA]

First off, I too am very pro competition, anti monopoly. But I do not see myself registering with, hiding opencaches, or logging opencaches.

I have several concerns about opencaching, one being as others have stated the lack of a review process. Also of huge concern to me is the fact it is sponsored by a corporation which has a serious financial interest in our game. These are the people who have brought us Whereigo's and the Chirp, which I understand cater exclusively to Garmin clients. One can only wonder what they would have in mind if they were to some day actually compete with Groundspeak in policing our game.

I feel if I were to register with opencaching it would help Garmin solidify their position in selling banner space on their website by saying we have xxx,xxx number of members, thus legitimizing opencaching and in turn hurting the game of geocaching.

I welcome competition to Groundspeak to make Groundspeak always strive to keep us the customers happy and to keep the game affordable, but I am very hesitant about the competition being opencaching.

[15Tango]

I just got the latest software upgrade for my Garmin Oregon 450, and it changed the icon on the geocaching button from the Groundspeak logo to the generic "found cache" treasure box icon. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that is due to opencaching.com.
_________________
There comes a time in every young boy's life when he gets an irresistible urge to seek buried treasure.--Mark Twain

[spd2662]

Have you tried zooming in on the maps? It's like they flew over in an airplane. The clarity is amazing. I posted some of my caches and zoomed in and you can almost see the cache itself

[knowschad]

I found an article on Businesswire.com about the opencaching site: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20101207005293/en/Geocaching-Free-Garmin%C2%AE-Launches-OpenCaching.com

I get a kick out of the title"Geocaching Free for All". I'm afraid that's what it is going to be.

And POI.COM's forums have a bit to say about it, too: http://www.poi-factory.com/node/31388
_________________
Alcohol & calculus don't mix. Don't drink & deriv

[spinowner]

The viability of a website is measured by the number of hits it receives. Those who are concerned about the possible negative ramifications of opencaching would do best to ignore it. If cachers stay away in droves it will eventually dry up or at least be irrelevant.
_________________
Sig line? I don't need no stinking sig line!

[bflentje]

[knowschad]

[spinowner]

[spinowner]

[emmanogoldfish]

At the very onset I interpreted this as Garmin and Groundspeak were in negotiations for GC.com, the frog wanted way more money than it was worth so Garmin took this route. They will in the end own GC.com.

Competition. it's cyclical isn't it, usually ends up back at a monopoly or at the least collusion dressed as competition?

[JJnTJ]

Without reviewers, I wonder how long it will take for a place to be placed in a park against the rules, found by a park official, and get geocaching kicked out of parks permanently. Again.

Would it be sensible for COs with caches in parks to load theirs into opencaching.com and disable them? Assuming they have a .1 mile limit, that would help discourage new caches from being placed in parks.

It's probably considered abuse (or at least rude), but might help protect geocaching as a park activity until OC.com realizes the need for reviewers and good park relations.

[Moe the Sleaze]

[Jam3s]

[Grey Wolf and Wild Rice]

I'm confused. Is there still another new site?

http://www.opencaching.com/
or
http://www.opencaching.us/

[Hunter-Killer]

The newest flavor is opencaching dot com.