Building off of our class topics this week in regards to the development of the personal computer and other like technologies, I'd like to touch a bit on the early beginnings of the world's top-selling GPS company, Garmin. It basically boils down to two men, Gary Burrell and Min Kao. Kao had been on the team that developed the first GPS system for airplanes for the US military. The company name is simply a combination of their first names, 'Gar', and 'Min'. Kao was provided with about $4 million in capital from a friend, and then they never looked back. The company has soared lately, and the range of products they sell is amazing.

Garmin's first popular, main-stream device was the eTrex Yellow, as shown below. The device was introduced in 1998 and is what started the hand-held GPS craze. It was a 12-channel GPS device that was designed for hikers, skiiers, backpackers, and boaters. The biggest selling point of this device was that it was durable, waterproof, and reliable.

Now, their annual sales revenues exceed $3 billion. The industry itself is quite expansive, but Garmin can be accredited with starting the craze which has developed into new cell phones, car navigators, and staples such as google maps. This technology is here to stay, and it will be cool to see where it ends up.