The History
of eXchanging GPs Data
25 August 2008
It seems like about once a year, something comes along that motivates me to write about the state of recreational GPS, where we've been, and where we're going. This year it was an article in Backpacker Magazine.
A recent email I sent to the editor of Backpacker Magazine went like this:
I give BACKPACKER credit for the well written iHike Guide (June 2008) but I found myself giggling over all the hype about the sharing of location data being "new." Patrons of sites like TravelByGPS.com have been using for years what you report as "new tools" and "new rules" for the "digital revolution." Moreover, the 13-page guide gives scant few references to the standard that facilitates trip planning, documenting, and sharing - the GPs eXchange (GPX) file format - which has been proliferating for almost 7 years. When you sensationalize what is common practice, you look a little silly.
Here is a look back at the practice of exchanging location information in the GPX data format and how it has been adopted by companies providing GPS hardware, software, and recreational data:
September 2001 – GPSXML forum established for developing common format for
exchanging GPS data.
December 2001 – first GPX schema published.
December 2001 - GPSBabel, a popular program for working with GPS data, supports
GPX file format.
May 2002 - TravelByGPS.com begins publishing "Waypoints, Routes, and
Tracks to Adventure" in GPX format.
September 2002 - Geocaching.com starts distributing their geocache data
GPX file format.
March 2004 - Backpacker.com offers downloadable GPX files for sale.
August, 2004 - MotionBased.com enables users to upload and analyze GPX data.
December 2004
- Garmin added support for GPX in MapSource version 6.5
January 2005
- Magellan announced Geocache Manager PC application with support for GPX..
June 2005 -
Backpacker Magazine teams up with Trimble Outdoors to create trip sharing
web site.
July 2005 -
Google Earth launches with support for importing GPX data
January 2006
- Garmin unveils nuvi series car navigation devices with native support
for GPX
January 2006
- National Geographic added GPX support to TOPO! version 4.2
March 2006 - Northport Systems added GPX support to Fugawi Version 4
April 2006 - DeLorme added GPX support to Topo USA Version 6.0
January 2008 - Garmin unveils the Colorado series handheld GPS units with
native GPX support.
Clearly the digital revolution in trip sharing is not "new." But considering Backpacker Magazine's need to sell issues and bring attention to its own trip sharing web site, I can understand why the editors would pump up the rhetoric. What I do not understand is why Backpacker left out out significant GPX data wherehouses (pun intended) under the iHike guide's Plan-it section.
| Internet Rank of
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According to those who should know, the adoption of the GPX format at Geocaching.com was key in the acceptance of GPX as a common format for sharing GPS data. Geocaching.com's support of GPX was significant because it rapidly became the largest source of consumer GPS data on the Internet, and it was in an open format that could be used by a number of free programs right off the bat (EasyGPS, GPS Babel, GPX Spinner...). The proliferation of GPX file sharing surely influenced the likes of Garmin to include GPX support in their own GPS hardware and mapping software products.
When Garmin acquired MotionBased.com, it purchased the fastest growing online mapping application for athletes and outdoor enthusiasts. Within it's first year, MotionBased signed up over 11,000 GPS users who uploaded approximately 140,000 individual outdoor activities. MotionBased.com was also not included on Backpacker's list of trip planning web sites, but perhaps it should have been. Currently, MotionBased has a similar Internet rank as compared to the two lowest ranking web sites listed - Backpacker.com and Topo.com.
| "If Google ever gets serious about supporting devices... this article may well be the obituary for GPX." |
Arguably the most popular trip sharing web site is the Google Earth Community. When Google Earth launched it became the largest GPX application overnight. And soon after, most all the popular GPS and mapping programs fell in line supporting GPX.
Google Earth allowed users to open GPX files, but they could only be saved in a new format - the Keyhole Markup Language (KML) or in compressed form (KMZ). The result is that users started sharing files in KML, but they still needed GPX to transfer the data to their GPS devices. Going back-and-forth between formats is a pain especially when some of the information gets lost in the translation.
Trip sharing web sites would rather not have to maintain multiple formats. Most sites stick to one and point users to programs like GPS Babel for converting from the one to another. But now that we have two formats that are so prevalent, which one is the best for publishers?
According to Jeremy Irish, founder of Geocaching.com, "GPX is an excellent format for exchanging GPS data, but the presentation capabilities of KML make it a better delivery mechanism for Geocaching and Waymarking data." Irish has no plans of updating the data format at geocaching.com but, "If and when we do, it is likely that we'll move to KML."
I agree with Irish. Most of the downloads at TravelByGPS.com are in GPX format, but I like to show off the data with screenshots of Google Earth. It is a hassle to create a KML file and tweak it for display purposes, but Google Earth is hard to beat as a visualization tool. If Google ever gets serious about supporting devices, I'd be inclined to convert to KML too. And if that ever happens, the follow up to this article may well be the obituary for GPX.
Maybe in the shadow of all the hype at Backpacker, the editors know a move from GPX to KML is underway. In the same issue as the iHike guide, a contest was announced, encouraging readers to submit trip reports with "the most ingenious uses of new technology" using mash-ups, visuals, narration, geotagged photos, slideshow tools... When I read this, I could not resist coming up with my own contest entry. Here is the result:
Enjoy!
- Doug
Owner, TravelByGPS.com
