The new swiss topo maps v2 for garmin devices appeared on the market some days ago.
I decided to get the new version. The maps are quite great and have a lot of details which make them very useful for biking, hiking or similar outdoor activities.
Unfortunately the company failed in keeping an easy installation procedure. Besides the exorbitant official price of CHF 398.-, it took me about 3 hours (!) to install the new map. (It’s still not working on OSX, whereas v1 seems to work).
Similar to the music industry, they try to protect their products. They chose complicated registrations, several different passwords, serial numbers and key generators. It’s no surprise I failed on my first attempt! So of course I also “lost” my first of two available keys (you can only install the maps on 2 devices).
There is no information about what will happen if I change/upgrade my operating system nor if I would get a new gps device (or it’s deeply hidden in the terms of conditions).
Of course there is openstreetmap which allows you to upload the maps of your choice for free. At some places they show even more details than on the original topo maps, but… there’s a downside. There are still large fields with a very poor coverage. But I’ll definitely participate in helping to fill this gap.
I’m definitely not ready to pay that much for a product with such an installation mess and annoying limitations while there is not even a running support hotline.
Let’s hope they get the learnings from the music industry!