by Rich » Sat Mar 09, 2019 4:20 pm
ScottSutton wrote: ↑Sat Mar 09, 2019 1:33 am
And I find fault with several of his statements
So what's the takeaway from today's news? In my opinion, I would expect the past to be prologue. I would expect a slower pace of innovation, higher prices, and focus on commercial aviation. Steve Podradchik
What specifically do you find "fault" with Rich?
As someone that came very close to switching from Garmin Pilot to Foreflight recently, the words highlighted above must hold some merit - otherwise why would Boeing have made this purchase?
He's stating, without proof, that prices will rise and innovation will slow. I have no experience with Jeppesen's flight bag, but I have been using their nav database in my GNS units for some 17 years, now. I believe Jeppesen was owned by Boeing for this entire period.
- The price for my WAAS dual-database hasn't changed in years.
- When WAAS became available in the GNS units, the necessary Jepp infrastructure was there on day 1.
- The download app (JDM) used to require Windows computers. They came to support Mac OS directly some years back, eliminating my only need for a Windows instance on my Macbook.
- They update JDM periodically. Admittedly there isn't much to do, but they have, over time, made it quicker and easier to use.
- Recently they teamed with Bad Elf for a new device that allows you use a smartphone for loading databases. This works with any of the data cards, whether the Garmin proprietary or SD. No wires required.
- If you're using Foreflight (a competitor in some sense) and you have a Jepp subscription for, say, your G1000, you can load the Jepp charts into FF so you don't have to deal with different presentation schemes. This is something that doesn't apply to me but was something that came along during this period.
As for Foreflight, yes, they have been adding stuff for more commercial operations, but lots of under-the-radar incremental changes happen more-or-less monthly that are useful for all. You can choose your level of goodies and pay accordingly and switch anytime without penalty. For example they rapidly supported the new weather products made available on ADS-B last year. This did not require any upgrade in the subscription level.
As it happens, I also have had a kind-of inside relationship with Seattle Avionics. My former partner in the DA40 was a principal in the early days of the company. I used their initial EFB offerings, which were based on Windows. I had a Motion Computing LS800 with their stuff on it. I can tell you that Windows Tablet Edition + the MC platform was terminally annoying to use. Fly Q is popular regionally, but it's kind of interesting given that they don't do Canada. When I lived up there I would often be one wide turn away from Canadian airspace. And routinely flew up into coastal BC. FF actually reduced the price for adding Canadian coverage from the initial offering. It's considerably cheaper than buying such paper coverage from Transport Canada.
[quote=ScottSutton post_id=73387 time=1552095192 user_id=1740]
[quote]And I find fault with several of his statements[/quote]
[quote]So what's the takeaway from today's news? In my opinion, I would expect the past to be prologue. I would expect a slower pace of innovation, higher prices, and [b]focus on commercial aviation[/b]. Steve Podradchik[/quote]
What specifically do you find "fault" with Rich?
As someone that came very close to switching from Garmin Pilot to Foreflight recently, the words highlighted above must hold some merit - otherwise why would Boeing have made this purchase?
[/quote]
He's stating, without proof, that prices will rise and innovation will slow. I have no experience with Jeppesen's flight bag, but I have been using their nav database in my GNS units for some 17 years, now. I believe Jeppesen was owned by Boeing for this entire period.
- The price for my WAAS dual-database hasn't changed in years.
- When WAAS became available in the GNS units, the necessary Jepp infrastructure was there on day 1.
- The download app (JDM) used to require Windows computers. They came to support Mac OS directly some years back, eliminating my only need for a Windows instance on my Macbook.
- They update JDM periodically. Admittedly there isn't much to do, but they have, over time, made it quicker and easier to use.
- Recently they teamed with Bad Elf for a new device that allows you use a smartphone for loading databases. This works with any of the data cards, whether the Garmin proprietary or SD. No wires required.
- If you're using Foreflight (a competitor in some sense) and you have a Jepp subscription for, say, your G1000, you can load the Jepp charts into FF so you don't have to deal with different presentation schemes. This is something that doesn't apply to me but was something that came along during this period.
As for Foreflight, yes, they have been adding stuff for more commercial operations, but lots of under-the-radar incremental changes happen more-or-less monthly that are useful for all. You can choose your level of goodies and pay accordingly and switch anytime without penalty. For example they rapidly supported the new weather products made available on ADS-B last year. This did not require any upgrade in the subscription level.
As it happens, I also have had a kind-of inside relationship with Seattle Avionics. My former partner in the DA40 was a principal in the early days of the company. I used their initial EFB offerings, which were based on Windows. I had a Motion Computing LS800 with their stuff on it. I can tell you that Windows Tablet Edition + the MC platform was terminally annoying to use. Fly Q is popular regionally, but it's kind of interesting given that they don't do Canada. When I lived up there I would often be one wide turn away from Canadian airspace. And routinely flew up into coastal BC. FF actually reduced the price for adding Canadian coverage from the initial offering. It's considerably cheaper than buying such paper coverage from Transport Canada.
