National Farm Machinery Show

I spent some time yesterday at the National Farm Machinery show in Louisville, KY.  Last time I was at the Kentucky Exposition Center it was for the 2001 National FFA Convention.  It has grown.  The show was an impressive spectacle of agriculture.  It sseemed that all the national agricultural vendors were there and a number of smaller ones as well.  I was attending to shop for mapping software.  I was surprised at how few vendors were in the building.  I was able to talk to some people and figure out what I don't want. 

The crowds seemed large to me but this was the first time I have been there.  Guidance systems, controllers, and so on seem to continue to make improvements and grow their market.  There is not much new in mapping.  It was surprising considering the size of the show, how difficult it was to find knowledgeable people.  I had questions about guidance systems and it seemed there was only one person per display that was knowledgeable.   Such is the state of that field.  The technology is ahead of the sales division.

I know that there are already mapping apps for Apple I-Pad and I was expecting to find some of those people in the building.  I guess there is not enough money in that for them to pay for a booth.  One vendor I talked to said he did not think an I-pad is rugged enough for the field.  I did not think of it at the time, but I could break an I-pad or 2 a year and still not be out as much as I am with his ruggedized field equipment.  I think I could make it work.