Garmin just purchased ActiveCaptain

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by boat_alexandra

I don't trust garmin even if the inital API is open. If it's trivial to implement, maybe, but we really need something that has guarenteed future.

I think this may be the key issue which has led to so much negative buzz.

Garmin is only reinforcing this by being secretive about their plans. Maybe they actually didn't HAVE any plans, and they've been making it up as they go since the purchase of AC. But still, it doesn't inspire trust.

Here's a company which makes pretty good hardware, running pretty good software, then drops support, making this good gear "legacy" after a very short time. A company which buys other companies (e.g.; DeLorme) only to dismantle them and cherry-pick one technology they want to dominate.

I like their stuff. I really want to believe that things will be fine.

But I'd be a fool to trust them.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by boat_alexandra

My humble suggestion is to work on alternatives to active captain.

Why? Does their success offend you? I check ActiveCaptain, Waterway Guide, and couple of other nascent start-ups. No one competes with ActiveCaptain for effectiveness. Why cut off your nose to spite your face?

Originally Posted by boat_alexandra

We should all refuse to sign any kind of "NDA" for this, or anything else.

Why? Religious fervor for open source? If you want access to IP you sign an NDA.

Originally Posted by boat_alexandra

I suggested to jeff that it would not be difficult to "extract" the useful data out of his website using robot scripts, so he might as well share it.

I'm rather disturbed as well. Rude. Disrespectful. How do you feel about shoplifting? Maybe cutting dinghy painters if someone is in your way? Do you just take what you want regardless of ownership? ActiveCaptain makes the data they collect available for FREE and you can't be bothered to comply with some terms and conditions? Not leaving a clean wake.

Originally Posted by boat_alexandra

I don't trust garmin even if the inital API is open. If it's trivial to implement, maybe, but we really need something that has guarenteed future.

I don't know what sort of guarantee you want. Certainly ActiveCaptain given its base has the most reliable future.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

I don't know what sort of guarantee you want. Certainly ActiveCaptain given its base has the most reliable future.

Well, this is the $64,000 question.... most of us haven't seen the new API or the agreement or terms for using it. Matter of fact, who knows where one can see the existing/old AC API and its agreements?

In the current information void, it's not hard to imagine the worst. I guess we're all waiting for April 1...

[BandB]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

Why? Does their success offend you? I check ActiveCaptain, Waterway Guide, and couple of other nascent start-ups. No one competes with ActiveCaptain for effectiveness. Why cut off your nose to spite your face?



Why? Religious fervor for open source? If you want access to IP you sign an NDA.



I'm rather disturbed as well. Rude. Disrespectful. How do you feel about shoplifting? Maybe cutting dinghy painters if someone is in your way? Do you just take what you want regardless of ownership? ActiveCaptain makes the data they collect available for FREE and you can't be bothered to comply with some terms and conditions? Not leaving a clean wake.



I don't know what sort of guarantee you want. Certainly ActiveCaptain given its base has the most reliable future.

I agree. Active Captain is far superior to any other sites. Waterway Guide and Cruisers Net are great for the very small part of the world they cover.

We sign NDA's all the time with software companies as we require them to sign with us. Furthermore, all our key employees sign them as well. As to Open Source, it's great in theory but I'd sure hate to have to run our business on it. We purchase and license software and we're happy to do so.

Yes, I agree with you but I wouldn't call his threat of stealing AC's data to be just rude. It goes far beyond that.

There's no guarantee I'm aware of as to the future of any software and it's continued availability or structure. Not much of life comes with guarantees. None of the electronics on boats have any sort of guarantee the company will still exist and support them even a month from now. We assume they will be.

[IslandHopper]

Email from Garmin relating to AC..............

"See What’s in Store for the ActiveCaptain Community"

[Tornadosailing]

Originally Posted by IslandHopper

Email from Garmin relating to AC..............

"See What’s in Store for the ActiveCaptain Community"

I took one of their web guys to work the other day and he told me about a lot of the good things on the horizon for AC. They rightfully got a lot of backlash about the way they had handled things with AC in the beginning. Some of it their fault, some of it due to some regulatory crap in Europe. I'm not sure how much of what he told me is for the public so I won't spill what he said, but I'm looking forward to what the next few months will bring.

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by Tornadosailing

I took one of their web guys to work the other day and he told me about a lot of the good things on the horizon for AC. They rightfully got a lot of backlash about the way they had handled things with AC in the beginning. Some of it their fault, some of it due to some regulatory crap in Europe. I'm not sure how much of what he told me is for the public so I won't spill what he said, but I'm looking forward to what the next few months will bring.

Thanks for the insight. Garmin has a real opportunity to turn things around here. Going back to my theory that at first they didn't really know what they wanted to do with AC, and adding in the European monkey wrench, I'm willing to cut them some slack and see where they go with it from here.

At least they've finally started SAYing the right things.

[nwdiver]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

Why? Does their success offend you? I check ActiveCaptain, Waterway Guide, and couple of other nascent start-ups. No one competes with ActiveCaptain for effectiveness. Why cut off your nose to spite your face?



Why? Religious fervor for open source? If you want access to IP you sign an NDA.



I'm rather disturbed as well. Rude. Disrespectful. How do you feel about shoplifting? Maybe cutting dinghy painters if someone is in your way? Do you just take what you want regardless of ownership? ActiveCaptain makes the data they collect available for FREE and you can't be bothered to comply with some terms and conditions? Not leaving a clean wake.



I don't know what sort of guarantee you want. Certainly ActiveCaptain given its base has the most reliable future.

Plus 1

[mikedefieslife]

The first noticeable change Garmin have made to Navionics and it's for the better.

Rather than there being separate mobile and tablet apps with separate subscriptions, they've now combined them.

It now also includes active captain information, whether this is any good or not I don't know.

[Argyle38]

Originally Posted by mikedefieslife

The first noticeable change Garmin have made to Navionics and it's for the better.

Rather than there being separate mobile and tablet apps with separate subscriptions, they've now combined them.

It now also includes active captain information, whether this is any good or not I don't know.

The Active Captain on Navionics Android (Pixel 3) mobile is pretty good. My only complaint is that the AC icons don't show up until you are considerably zoomed in. They should mimic the behavior of the web site.

But that's a minor thing. So far so good, for now.

[PetePetePete]

I agree. They didn't destroy it - yet. What they need to do is take all the good points from BlueChart Mobile and look at how to integrate it into Navionics -- while leaving the good parts of Navionics.

The post about not needing to zoom so much to see the AC icons is excellent info!