Thread: marketing for boats

Well, if I were a hotshot stock broker with a nice boat, I'd want to be able to log into my favorite website and check my portfolio... Not to mention telecommuting - might need to catch up on emails between beers.

Fishing can become boring after a while. Might need to let out some agression on GTA or NFS.

Most guys with a 50' Bayliner are keen to the latest toys. And many of them live on their boats during the weekends. Just head down to any private boat club! I'd love to have that kind of convenience during a long weekend.

Originally Posted by PatO

Well, if I were a hotshot stock broker with a nice boat, I'd want to be able to log into my favorite website and check my portfolio... Not to mention telecommuting - might need to catch up on emails between beers.

Fishing can become boring after a while. Might need to let out some agression on GTA or NFS.

Most guys with a 50' Bayliner are keen to the latest toys. And many of them live on their boats during the weekends. Just head down to any private boat club! I'd love to have that kind of convenience during a long weekend.

we dont have that here most of the boats are <30'

Originally Posted by gameboy

we dont have that here most of the boats are <30'

Me neither (13' Whaler).
But, I used to be a "beach boy". I maintained a massive beach owned by a richie-rich boat club. Every weekend, around 3 dozen massive yachts pulled up with ultra-rich executives on board. That would be a "target-rich environment" if you're looking to market a boatpc...

Nice ideas. I wouldn't listen music as i am fishing. These things can make the fishes nerveous (if you are far from shore). But a pc may come very handy during long journeys. Boats are less complicated than cars. Vibration is less and gravity direction is variable.
How should be an ideal yachtpc according to me;

Functions:
dvd-divx etc
music playlist whatever
radio support (currently there is no radio-tv device with lw an sw support but i've seen once one with am support)
tv
GPS support
internet connection (i don't know if it's possible on the sea but there are some gprs modems for internet)
also weather etc thru internet

It is not going to be heavier than 1.5kg so you can modify anycase
and deal with water resistance and air circulation. i would seal the case with silicon and setup a watercooling. It will also prevent the noise which can be annoying as you are fishing. I would also put everything in the case to prevent water damage including the screen. There is no reason to go for small screen in the boat a normal 15" screen would be ok since most of boats use AC. Some suckers under the case and a nice transparent cover for the screen. Screen has to be attached to case too otherwise it would be hard to carry. If you are going to use it inside, no reason to seal it actually.
ps: i've seen a software that scares away rats and some other insects by sending some noise. There may be a way to scare away sharks if you wish to swim somewhere. There are some devices for that but never seen something pc compatible.

Originally Posted by redbullah

Boats are less complicated than cars. Vibration is less and gravity direction is variable.

......ummm

Originally Posted by gameboy

i've run into some issues trying to market pcs to boat folk, as you can get a decient color gps/chart type setup for less then 600$ and get modules that plug into it, for things like radar, sonar, etc. alot cheaper then a pc w/software/hardware and such (

Using a touch screen I think would be the biggest improvement over the marine electronics out there.

As i've noted in another post, the amp consumption issue is also a big concern. Most of the marine electronics take very little power. Not a huge concern for a power boat, but it is for a sailboat.

There is also a lot of resistence by marine electronics manufacturers to abandon NMEA 1083 in favor of NMEA 2000 which is ethernet based. This, I think would be a great reason to go pc.

So... this is my first news post since i have been on your very nice Forum. I'm an italian reader and I liked this forum entry the most though, the way you said it was just amazing!
Cheers.
Michele