Posted on 03/31/2010 6:42:16 PM PDT by myknowledge
The U.S. Army is getting very tight with the Apple Corporation, mainly because soldiers have long been enthusiastic users of Apple products (iPod and iPhone, and probably iPad as well). But Apple has tight control over what software can be used on these devices, so the military needs a close relationship with Apple just to get their custom military software on the iPods, iPhones and iPads the troops are so enthusiastic about.
This relationship enabled the army to recently run a programming contest for troops and civilian employees. The goal was to create the most effective smart phone software for the troops. Mainly, this was for the iPhones (and iPod Touch), but also for other smart phones like the Google Android. The army believes their military and civilian personnel know what applications are most needed. The troops have already decided what hardware they most need, because they have been buying iPods and iPhones with their own money.
The army sees these portable devices as key battlefield devices. Not just for communication, but for a wide range of data handling (computer) chores. The army wants to work closely with Apple to ensure the troops get the software need, as well as customized hardware. Details are largely kept secret.
This is all part of a trend. In the last decade, the U.S. military found the iPod music player an increasingly useful tool. This happened for two reasons. As time went on (the iPod was introduced just after September 11, 2001), more and more troops bought iPods. By 2005, most troops had them. The iPod was the perfect entertainment device for the battlefield. When you got a chance to take a break, you put in the ear buds, turned it on, and were in a different place for a few minutes. The iPod battery usually kept going until the next time you got a chance to recharge.
The second reason was that, from the beginning, the iPod could do other things (run software for things other than listening to music). That's because the iPod was, basically, a very small personal computer. In fact, the iPhone is basically an high end iPod (sold as such as the Ipod Touch), with cell phone capability added.
At first, most of the other iPod software was games, but soon non-game applications were added. Except for some skilled hackers, no one but Apple, or with the help of Apple, could create software for the iPod. Despite that, the U.S. Army had some military software written for the iPod. This worked well, but it took over a year to get new software for an iPod, a delay that did not encourage rapid development. That changed two years ago, when Apple opened its App Store, and released a tool kit (SDK) for programmers to develop software for the iPhone and iPod Touch. This meant that military programmers could create Touch software to suit their needs, and do it quickly. In less than a year, hundreds of military-specific Touch programs have been created. Many do not show up in the App Store, as they are only for military use.
The Touch has become the new "most favorite gadget" for the troops. It's cheap (under $200), has the same interface as the iPhone, has several hundred thousand programs (and growing rapidly) available, and can also serve as an iPod (to listen to music or view vids). What the military sees the Touch as is the PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) that has often (in many different models) been issued over the years, but never really caught on. The Touch has caught on, and it does the job better than any earlier PDA. The Touch also has wi-fi built in, making it easier for the troops to get new software or data onto their Touch.
For use in the combat zone, troops usually put one of the many protective covers on their Touch, and, so far, the Touch has held up well under battlefield conditions. Meanwhile, some of the software written for earlier iPods, is now available for the Touch. This includes the VCommunicator Mobile software and libraries. This system translates English phrases into many foreign languages. Each language takes up four gigabytes per language, so they easily fit on the Touch. The software displays graphics, showing either the phrase in Arabic, or a video of a soldier making the appropriate hand gesture (there are a lot of those in Arabic), and this looks great on the Touch. There are collections of phrases for specific situations, like checkpoint, raid or patrol. You can use any accessory made for the iPod, like larger displays or megaphones.
All this is nothing new. When PCs first showed up in the late 1970s, younger troops were, as usual, early adopters. And many of them quickly found ways to create software that made their jobs easier. Databases and programs, created by the troops, that figured things out more quickly and effortlessly, kept showing up throughout the 1980s. It took about a decade for the brass to catch on, and another decade for the senior military people to embrace this flood of computerization. So when the iPod Touch came along, it was quickly adopted. And no one in uniform was surprised. This was in large part because so many of today's generals and admirals remember how programmable calculators were introduced when they were young, and how they and their troops adopted these devices for military use. This rapid adoption of technology has now become part of the military DNA, and it started at the bottom.
I work in medicine, and I could see lots of uses for these. The problem with tablet PC’s (and we use some of them) is that they take the standard mouse point and click thought process and apply it to a tablet. I could see how a system built from the start as a gesture and touch based interface could be a very powerful tool.
iPad will be big. When I bought my iPod touch it replaced my laptop for traveling.
I have always felt than when the military allows its personnel to propose solutions for problems (and is actually open to them) it shows just how powerful, adaptable and formidable our military can be as a military expression of the American way of life.
I remember reading somewhere about the networks the military used early on to transmit data (such as linking, position, targeting and communication data.
I guess it wasn’t particularly well designed, as it didn’t make use of all the available bandwidth they built, and they had some communication networks so full of data they would nearly choke, while others would be very sparsely populated.
Communication data would have to wait or would take so long to transmit that it created operational problems. Then some enterprising souls (I think in the Navy) found that they could send data over a targeting or linking network , and it worked so well the brass not only didn’t discourage it or look the other way and pretend not to notice, it wholeheartedly embraced it. I know that sounds weird, but if you have ever been in the military, you recognize that it has a very pungent bureaucracy and self limiting mentality in various aspects.
The “rule book” mentality.
And it isn’t across the board in all areas or even at the same times. I do know that many of the “rules” in the military, while sometimes incomprehensible, were written in blood. It is not often wise to blindly accept a rule or premise, but I will give a break to certain military processes because you know it has to have been the result of loss of life.
They have stuff like that on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier, but they have it everywhere else too...the infantry, a cockpit of a bomber, etc.
Anyway, I got off subject, but things like this, if well designed and well implemented, could help our military greatly.
If, of course, our military survives until 2012.
For Example it could replace T.O.s, Instruction Manuals, IPBs, portable powerpoint presenter. Threat Warning map, Navigation Aids..ETC.
LOL!
You have an important perspective, with your background. Your mind must be racing...
mark
Hey Swordmaker... over here!
Wow, Apple works with the government to support our troops???? Who knew??
Steve Jobs expresses his patriotic loyalty...
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
iKill.
Things the troops bought themselves, their iPods, iPhones, iPads, etc., may be all they have left.
For the Long Range Precision Shooter there is:Ballistic
The Pro Ballistic Trajectory Calculator for iPhone and iPod Touch
And you can get an iPhone/Touch mount for the side of your rifle, so the ballistic calculator is always right there.
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