Garmin acquires Delorme
 

[url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160211005181/en/Garmin®-Signs-Purchase-Agreement-Acquire-DeLorme®]Garmin

Thanks
 

A big fish swallows a smaller fish.

I didn't realise that Garmin is incorporated in Schaffhausen, Switzerland though.

That's disturbing, there is no way that I would want my emergency communication device to be programmed by Garmin. In the UK they don't even seem to know which way we go round roundabouts.

Strange in that I had always thought Garmin was vulnerable as a business, because it's functionality was rapidly being duplicated by more versatile smart phones.

Maybe Garmin WILL program a couple of useful features into the DeLorme - such as making the ringer loud enough to be heard in a normal camper during the day instead of requiring absolute silence to hear it..User selectable "No-track" zones so tracking ceases while stationary.

Unfortunately Tony, I doubt it!


Garmin do some half decent products, but over the last 10 years as far as Im concerned they are not in touch with their customers, the bean counters have ruined the company, they probably make 200 + different GPS units, most of which are crap and have an extremely bad, limited user interface with no scope to tailor the product to the users exact needs.
Instead of making say 3 or 4 QUALITY products with much more variable user interface in each price range (cheap, medium, improved and premium) in each category: handheld, cycling, fitness, motorcycle, ATV, 4x4, car, truck, marine, aviation, pet, 2 way - say 50 different units max, they insist in so much overlap that they don't seem to know what the hell they are making anymore.
Having DeLorme run by these guys is to be honest quite scary and unless they keep the inReach infrastructure as it is I would not rely on for a life saving rescue it if it is swallowed into the Garmin pit of incompetence.

I'm always slightly surprised with some of the comment on Garmins. I've only had one garmin unit (Montana) and its been great for my needs. I had one issue with it shutting down after a long exposure to direct sunlight.

My even knows which way we go on roundabouts in the UK :)

I agree that by trying to satisfy everyone they end up satisfying few. Wouldn't you think they would give their products to some five years old kids and then listen to what they say, or have a look at TomTom and ask themselves what TT features are really good and then add them. There are a few custom features available via a secret menu, but even then it falls far short. DeLorme also suffers from very rigid interface