Philip Elmer-DeWitt writing for Fortune has an excellent article on The Half Life of an iPhone App. Very intersting statistics indeed.

Groundspeak has intruduced a new Geocaching application for the iPhone.

If you are not familiar with geocaching, groundspeak describes it as “Geocaching is a global treasure hunting game where participants locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share their experience online.”

My sister prefers describing it as “using several hundred dollar handheld devices, and a multi-million dollar satellite system to find 10¢ trinkets other geocachers have hidden.”  Either way it is an enjoyable way to spend some time outdoors with the family, especially if combined with hiking or bicycling.

We often load our gps from groundspeaks graphical map in areas we plan on visiting, find a few while caches while in the area, and return home to log our finds.  This new application promises to solve several problems in that pursuit.

The first problem is planning a caching trip to begin with.  Our family enjoys geocaching, but rarely plan a trip for geocaching alone, but rather finds a few if in an area we are visiting for other reasons.  We all too often find ourselves in an area with spare time, but failed to load our gps prior to beginning our journey.  Real time loading of nearby caches solves this nicely.

A second problem is having the hints available.  Dedicated geocachers have found ways around this, by also loading a PDA’s, printing indexed 3-ring binders, or using one of the newest gps units. Having this information available when needed could improve the success rate, and overall enjoyment of caching.  As casual cacher’s, we rarely have this information with us.

A third problem is actually logging the found cache.  On a long voyage, the logging upon the return home is often challenging without very carefull notes.  Real time logging solves this nicely.

Having an application dedicated for geocaching, bringing all information together nicely in a well laid out application, instead of on a gps with a geocache mode added on, makes the app more enjoyable to use.  This is a huge advantage for a device designed for extendability and add on applications.

The real problem lies in Apple’s hardware.  The gps senser on the iPhone is simply not as accurate as a real handheld gps unit, and the iPod touch lacks a gps sensor alltogether.  More people purchase iPod Touch’s than purchase iPhones magnifying this problem.

A GPS sensor at least as accurate as Garmins first generation handhelds in the next generation iPod Touch…  would reduce the amount of cash in our wallet.