where are we going in this hobby?

[leslie(nova scotia)]

From the land of the Bluenose.....just going over a few sites of dealers and such and got to thinking since the ground is frozen and we are butt deep in snow with cabin fever at an all time high. Ads stating deeper depth! Lord love a duck this has been a common cry since I got in the hobby over 30 years ago and if only a half inch per year deeper was achived I think we all would need a backhoe instead of a lesche tool or shovel.

So where are manufactures of these "wonderful' machines going to go next? Could it be the way of cars with more km between fill ups or all the techno stuff with personnal communications? Deep thought. Point being is.......is high tech going to take the joy out of the hobby.

Don't know about you bouys but the hunt and digging buds are everything and the finds but a meer by product. Think that knowing what each and every target is before you dig it would take away some of the allure of this great hobby.

To this day I still feel like a child on a grand adventure each and every time I grab the detector and head out. Once that feeling leaves............the little boy is gone!

[Old Jeffers]

I share those sentiments, Leslie. However, if there are machines that seem to make the hobby easier then there will always be those who will buy them. But physics being what it is, most of those bells and whistles are worth very little when compared to a good machine used by a competent and experienced detectorist. There is no short-cut to success and when the newcomer with rose tinted spectacles, who has been sold a machine which has all of those (expensive) options, discovers that he'll still have to dig up plenty of silver foil and ring-pulls he will realise that he's been sold a pup!
I'm a newbie, but with some electronics experience, and using the existing basic technology there's only so much that a machine can reliably tell you.
In the UK we have a 'litter' culture and a very great many people drop litter and think nothing of it. We have a very high population density and even in quite remote areas you can find 'modern' litter. I found a foil wrapper yesterday four inches deep, in the middle of some land that has only been used as pasture for the last 50 years!
So, yes, the manufacturers are going to continue to attempt to make their latest machines more attractive than last years model.

[Westcoastdetector]

I agree ; id love to see a machine though , that discriminates against silver foil !