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Not about people's priorities. It's about doing what it takes to do the job. That is THE priority.


I meant that some people's priority is to play Angry Birds, which they will pay for, and not planning for a safe trip, which they will not pay for.

If there were a market for a "SPOT" like app one would have been made long ago. I'm pretty sure the little "Navigraphic" app I made was the very first attempt at that.

The brand new "Locate" app introduced here a few weeks ago is the only other I know of. There was over a year gap between the two. This tells us a lot about the market for this product.

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The app needs to work without data connection.


That's impossible. (applies to Satphone, EPIRB, SPOT, cell phone, TV, radio, land line, etc.)

Lori, I am not advocating the ownership of a cell phone as a replacement for knowledge, experience or planning. What I am trying to point out is that it can be a tool used to help save lives. As the OP pointed out, it already has been.

The simple app I describe here would, for example, automatically send OM's lat/long to her DIL every 6 hours. You don't need to "Ping" the phone. The phone is pinging OM's DIL. (I'm using the term "ping" rather loosely here)

If OM is overdue and her DIL calls you and you see the position sent has not changed for a day or two you can assume that the phone has not moved and OM may be nearby. (A ping sent to the phone will tell you no more than that.)

That's all you get from that and nothing more. But it's info you would not have had otherwise and it is valuable info. In this scenario SAR does not have to go through any red tape to request a ping, you received this info with the first call from OMs DYI.

From that you point you can continue to try and call the phone to see if you get a response. If you do, you're probably way ahead with locating your party and bring what's specifically needed for the mission. If not, you still have a good place to start looking for them or their footprints.

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We should not dismiss the potential. It is very significant, even right now as it stands.

I'll say this with the utmost certainty, it will not be long before lives saved that started with a hiker carrying a cell phone will exceed that of all the other available devices combined.

This will be a result of accessibility, not reliability.
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"You want to go where?"