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Kieran wrote:

> I checked this site and this appears to be an amazing development - a hand
> held compass that can be used anywhere in the world! Doesn't this spell the
> end of the "zoned compass" such as the classic Silva TD series of which I
> own one and which sparked this particular discussion? Why would anyone ever
> buy one like this again? Surely Silva will have to introduce a similar model
> or it will be out of business.

I would imagine that the market for Zone 5 compasses will dry up, where
knowledgeable consumers are concerned. But that market was always small
(more or less confined to Australians and New Zealanders) and a
relatively high proportion of its members are world travellers. (I'm
assuming that yachts passing through Zone 5 from elsewhere carry
"global" compasses, as ships on the same routes certainly do.)

In contrast, most of the people on this planet who are wealthy enough to
care about a quality compass live in Zone 1 and never leave it -- or at
least never undertake anything adventurous enough to need a compass
outside their home zone. Thus, I suspect that the market for lower-cost,
zone-specific compasses will remain. Which means that Zone 5 variants of
those designs will continue to be peddled to unsuspecting Aussies.


Trevor Kenchington


--
Trevor J. Kenchington PhD                         Gadus@iStar.ca
Gadus Associates,                                 Office(902) 889-9250
R.R.#1, Musquodoboit Harbour,                     Fax   (902) 889-9251
Nova Scotia  B0J 2L0, CANADA                      Home  (902) 889-3555

                     Science Serving the Fisheries
                      http://home.istar.ca/~gadus

   

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