We're long-time review submitters, but haven't used the forum much. Had a thought tonight - maybe best to funnel it directly to AndyR, but here goes. Undertow, the company that did the Trailer Life campground navigator software, has ceased producing that branded software and their own follow-on, in part it seems because of the lack of a campground database (since Trailer Life backed out) and user interest in a product that lacked the review/amenity listing aspect of the campground info. Microsoft has also announced that Streets and Trips has been sunset. Perhaps this is an opportunity for Social Knowledge to capitalize on RVParkreviews - work with Undertow to provide the campground database - and release a new RV trip routing tool combining Undertow's routing software with RVParkreviews database? I know we would buy (or subscribe to) such a program. Michelle
This is just what i had mentioned a couple of years ago (without the trip planning) in another thread. There are times we are in a park without an internet connection, or between parks, but we would like to locate a place to stay the next night. It would be nice to have the RVParkreviews database on a disk to be able to search for parks. Sure, the reviews would be static, but this would still be useful to me. I would be willing to pay something for this disk and would probably purchase a new one every couple of years.
I think the advent of smart phones and tablets is going to make the CD concept out of date, The apps are constantly updated and talk to GPS with road conditions.
I would agree that with smart phones and Data plans a CD is a generation behind in terms of technology and not likely to make enough money to make it worthwhile.
I agree it would be nice to access when out of 4G and Wifi range. The GPS communication should be able to work with an app to give us access when out of range. As mentioned in an earlier post there are a lot of apps that use this feature.
We actually use the software for trip planning - to get an idea of where we'll be stopping, figuring out how long we'll be staying there, etc. It's nice to have the ability to look at the "specs" for different parks, or to use filters depending on your needs (e.g. show me only parks that are Big Rig friendly with pull-throughs). For actual driving we do use the smartphone and GPS devices. RVParkreviews is great to use reviews once you've chosen an area, but integrating with some form of routing so you can figure out what area you might be in for, say, an overnight, etc. would make it even more powerful. An on-line version, by subscription, would be really nice since it could have real-time park review data. Michelle
