On Sat, Jul 19, 2008 at 11:43 AM, Bob Carter <revkayak_at_aptalaska.net> wrote: > In the past couple months the coast guard has had three false searches due > to > the SPOT (Personal satellite tracker) system....... T<snip>.....The coast > guard is not happy about this and fear may be reluctant to search based on > the SPOT system. > This story illustrates how the public looks at emergency services; they expect things to be fixed immediately. The main problem is not with the sort of people who read Paddlewise or WCP or even, probably, the paddling magazines. They are the parents, friends, co-workers, etc. who would not likely understand the way SPOT works or the way a kayak trip (or mountaineering trip or fishing trip or virtually any expedition of any sort) plays out. Their education on these matters comes almost exclusively from dramatic depictions of sports on television. With SPOT coming into use by day hikers, weekend backpackers, cruising sailors, even people taking a trip by car ("you never know what can happen") both those who carry SPOT and those who might expect notifications of being ok would probably be people unfamiliar with emergencies of any sort much less SAR operations. This has the potential to seriously degrade the usefulness of SPOT. As the SPOT people market their device to more and more people via standard sales outlets (is Wal-Mart far behind REI?) we can expect a lot more false alarms caused by misunderstandings of how SPOT works both by the people carrying them and those receiving the notices. Marketing the device to the widest possible audience is probably the only way the company can turn a profit (satellites are not cheap). It's also the most likely way that the device will be devalued over time. At some point in the near future you can expect that SAR operations undertaken on the basis of a lack of SPOT information will not happen unless there is some other evidence of a problem independent of SPOT. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Sat Jul 19 2008 - 22:18:13 PDT
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