What do I want for Christmas?
That's easy: navigation software – perfect navigation software. While there are certainly plenty to choose from – Nobeltec, Maptech, Rose Point and more – finding the perfect package is tougher than you might think. Too often, I find myself admiring pieces of many different programs – a cool feature from one application, and a handy widget from another.
The simple truth is that I yearn for a hybrid, a Franken-program that pulls the best components from all these applications into one package of super software that gives me enough "situational awareness" to satisfy the Pentagon and displays everything in a single click.
In the last four months, Mad Mariner has run a weekly series on electronic charting called Hard Facts on Software, now it its 13th installment. As the editor, I have read every single one of these stories several times–roughly 40,000 words of reporting on interfaces, load times, waypoint management and cartography. I'm no expert, but you might say I'm an educated consumer.
So which package is best? I'll leave that to the end-of-series summary, which reporters Mark and Diana Doyle will write in January. What I will say is that I wish there were a piece of navigation software that took large amounts of compromise out of the equation, a market-leading product like Racor or Jabsco that you could simply buy and feel good about.
That may be a tall order, even for Santa. Still, just for fun, here is my wish list of features for that uber e-charting package.
SETUP AND STABILITY
Rose Point Navigation SystemsCoastal Explorer is a robust program with nice features. Here is shown a split screen with charts, satellite image and Coast Pilot information.
For starters, what we are talking about here is software that will run on a laptop PC that is fitted with a GPS, allowing me to plan trips and navigate using electronic charts.
I would want my program to be downloadable from the company website (along with automated updates). But I would also want the option to buy the actual disk, preferably in a professional-looking case like the one Maptech offers for The Capn–a zippered black portfolio that makes you feel as if you purchased something substantial.
When it comes to function, number one on my list is ease of use. It does not matter what a program can do if you cannot get it started and use it without large hassles. Boating is a recreational activity and good navigation software should enhance that experience, not leave you pounding the screen with frustration.
Rose Point's Coastal Explorer exemplifies what I am looking for. When I first unwrapped Coastal Explorer, it took me just one night to get it loaded and running, and it was so intuitive that I could use it right away with only a few clicks on the Help tab. More than two years later, I am still using this application and it has never once let me down. The program was built from the ground up by former Microsoft engineers. They did not have to worry about building upon older products–what software guys call legacy issues–and the result is some extremely stable software. Mark and Diana went so far as to try to crash it–and they couldn't.
