The SPOT (not quite) PLB

January 26th, 2008 · by Tim Flanagan, Managing Editor

I saw several booths at the boat show with the SPOT. It’s a cool little device, and could be handy in a number of circumstances. But make no mistake, this is NOT a Personal Locater Beacon, like ACR’s excellent line of PLBs.

SPOT So please please PLEASE read Ben Ellison’s Panbo before you buy one. SPOT has some interesting features, but it doesn’t really do everything the manufacturers imply it does. Other tech journalists are getting it wrong, as well. Take a look at Ben Ellison’s red pen markup of an item from the New York Times…

Panbo's Ben Ellison play fact-checker on the New York Times' John Biggs SPOT summary

Tags: Communication · Electronics · New Posts · Safety

6 responses so far ↓

Ben Ellison // Jan 27, 2008 at 7:05 am

Thanks, Tim! But actually I think SPOT’s technical claims for its product are fairly reasonable, and I’m grateful that they don’t call it a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB). That term is apparently not copy protected, but it would be good for everyone if manufacturers treat it as if it belonged to the COSPAS-SARSAT system (as SPOT has). I do have gripes about SPOT’s fear marketing, but that’s a separate issue.

Hey, did you get to see Coastal Explorer 2.0 at the show?
Tim Flanagan, Managing Editor // Jan 27, 2008 at 11:30 am

Aaron and I will be taking a good long look at Rosepoint Coastal Explorer 2.0 early this week.
Tim Flanagan, Managing Editor // Jan 29, 2008 at 10:32 am

Ben, I guess I misunderstood your reservations about this product, to some degree. Let me see if I’ve got this right: you’re concerned because it’s relatively easy for consumers (and writers, heh) to misunderstand what SPOT does and does not do, despite SPOT’s efforts to market the product accurately.

So in fairness, I would direct readers to Ben’s followup comments. Still, I stand by my original point: please make sure you understand what you’re getting with the SPOT product. It might be just right for your situation.
SPOT Field Report | Navagear.com // Feb 27, 2008 at 4:48 pm

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