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Many
of you have probably already used the World Wide Web in some way that
involves your boat’s systems. Perhaps while shopping you went to
an electronics manufacturer’s site for product specs or to one of
the big online marine stores like westmarine.com or boatus.com to check
prices. Maybe you misplaced your real-world PMY, wanted to reread one
of my old columns, and found me again at powerandmotoryacht.about.com.
It could happen!
The
vast resource of the Web is an old story; we’ve come to expect that
a certain amount of information is just out there waiting for us. But
there’s more, much more. This month let’s explore some unexpected—and
sometimes complicated—ways that manufacturers can support customers
on the Web and the cyber backwaters where volunteer electronics mentors
lurk. Admittedly, my work as a marine electronics writer has made me quite
a nerd (or perhaps vice versa), but I can easily illustrate how improved
Web navigation can help you get the most from your electronics.
I regularly
scan an online newsgroup called rec.boats.electronics,
and last spring noted a discussion about how Garmin was offering free
software that upgraded its model 162 GPS to WAAS. As my friend Jack has
just that unit installed on his 36-foot lobster boat, I went to garmin.com,
downloaded the file, and copied it to a disc. Then we used Jack’s
onboard laptop to upload the upgrade; bada bing! he had a significantly
more accurate GPS, with several lesser software improvements (and bug
fixes) thrown in.
Upgrades
are common in the world of regular PC software, and their distribution
via the Web has become the norm. Now the phenomenon has come to the marine
world, first to PC charting programs, then to the handheld GPSs that are
commonly hooked to PCs. With more and more onboard networks and computers,
eventually we’ll be upgrading everything from fishfinders to VHFs.
The
business of actually downloading upgrade files and running them is fairly
straightforward; what’s harder is finding out about them. It’s
much easier for a manufacturer to post an upgrade on its Web site than
to notify all the appropriate customers individually.
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