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#1 War? There's an App for that.
Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 3:41 pm
by frigidmagi
PSFK
U.S. soldier, Captain Jonathan Springer, has contributed 26,000 dollars of his own money to launch an iPhone app for use in combat. Conceived by Springer, an artillery specialist stationed in eastern Afghanistan, Tactical Nav will help soldiers map, plot and photograph waypoints on a battleground as well as transmit coordinates to supporting units. The app’s main functions include a compass, camera and a gridded map that aids in accurately pinpointing exact locations down to a few feet. The information is then relayed to others soldiers linked into the app. Tactical Nav is also designed to be used to direct artillery fire or call in helicopter support for injured soldiers.
Springer explains how beneficial a tool it is for soldiers:
“I’ve got to think what do my soldiers need to go into battle? What do my soldiers need that could save their lives? So that’s what I’m thinking about right now. “I’ve been blessed to come up with this idea that’s taken on a mind of its own in expanding and I’m over here fighting in Afghanistan, being able to test it and get real-world user feedback from soldiers
Sooo Awesome... Just... SO AWESOME. I think I have a tear.
#2
Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 3:43 pm
by B4UTRUST
As much as I dislike Apple and the iPhone... even I have to admit... Yeah, I approve. This is pretty awesome.
#3
Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 3:43 pm
by LadyTevar
Who needs eggheads in DARPA?
#4
Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 4:39 pm
by Batman
25K bucks and they have an invaluable tool that the Military Industrial Complex hasn't managed to come up with so far, or nobody ever asked them to develop to begin with despite its painfully obvious utility to soldiers in the field.
About the only concern I have is transmission security. And of course the apparent complete and utter lack of the people who are supposed to provide your Armed Forces with tools like that to deliver despite having a massively larger budget.
#5
Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 5:23 pm
by General Havoc
I knew someone would turn the invention into a discussion of the evil military-industrial complex...
#6
Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 5:31 pm
by Batman
25K of private money and they've got an utility that's damn friggin useful nobody IN the Complex thought of, was asked for to begin with, or managed to deliver before that App came out. If nothing else that says something about the efficiency of the whole setup right there.
#7
Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 5:59 pm
by General Havoc
Batman wrote:25K of private money and they've got an utility that's damn friggin useful nobody IN the Complex thought of, was asked for to begin with, or managed to deliver before that App came out. If nothing else that says something about the efficiency of the whole setup right there.
It's not the efficiency I question, but the existence.
#8
Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 6:06 pm
by Batman
Okay, I think you lost me there. To me that looked like you were accusing me of questioning the need for its existence.
#9
Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 6:22 pm
by General Havoc
Er... no, sorry. I was attempting to be glib. I was questioning the premise of a grand military-industrial complex in the first place.
#10
Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 6:32 pm
by Batman
I refuse to comment on that due to complete lack of a)relevant information and b) interest.
Does the US need the MIC it has now? That depends on if there's a betterMIC to be had that still serves their needs.
And take a look at the Typhoon. Compared to it, the development of the F-22/F/A-22/FA-22 moved like greased lightning.
#11
Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 6:41 pm
by rhoenix
Eh.
Honestly, I'd lay this issue more at the feet of a problem with perspective than anything else. In-field soldiers having the capability to directly create tools for themselves have the bonus of still keeping intact the perspective and needs of those who will be using such a tool, at the expense of the larger budget the caffeine-driven nerds at DARPA would have.
I see the same issue of perspective where I work - wherein the people making most of the tools or setting them up have become so far removed from the perspective of those who will actually be using them that key points are missed. Often.