Goose,
I know that post was sarcastic and sort of a bait ..but I honestly think that the compass will go the way of the sextant. These low end units are truely amazing when you really get into to what they can do....for the money it is mind boggling. If you look around handheld units go for as low as 120 bucks. Quaility marine handhelds with all the goodies go for 300 or so . A quality marine compass sets you back about the same.120-250. (yes you can get a $20 compass but you know what that is good for) But my point its we have reached the break even price point now between GPS (state of the are digial tech) vs analog technology with lesser capablities.
I was talking to a banker/boater about them and he said they were getting so cheap the bank was thinking about giving them away if you open an account!...My respose was..."How much do I have to deposit to get a free EPRIB?"
Last June I took a 2 day mini advanced GPS course for boaters over at WHOI campus and it was really great! That fellow who gave it wrote a book on gps for boaters and was a principal in the development of the entire initial program for the gov't. After that I really got into what these can do beyond the basic routes and waypoint stuff...and some of the other software and they are the best safety device to come along ever for boaters since the pfd.
BUT there is NOTHING wrong with owning a compass!...I just could use another cupholder
Really, it is a saftey net for navigation when it all hits the fan and your looking for North...QUICKLY without having to turn anything on.
fair winds!