Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 38

As snagged off InfoBeat news service...
Kinda interesting :-)

Handheld computers used by Navy

ABOARD THE USS CONSTELLATION (AP) - Sailors aboard the USS
Constellation still look to the stars to help find their way. For a lot of other things, they gaze at their Palms. Handheld computers are bringing a high-tech touch to all hands - or many of them, anyway - on this sprawling ship, one of two steam-powered aircraft carriers still in service. The Navy is providing handheld computers to almost all of its new officers and giving them to graduates of
the Naval Academy and other naval programs. Moving from traditional Navy tools like the sextant - still used each night aboard the Constellation to pinpoint locations by the stars as a backup to satellite navigation - to gear like the Palm is always a logistical and cultural challenge, but the sailors agree it pays off. Before handheld computers were used, a landing signal officer would record onto a paper notebook how well an incoming pilot negotiated the
600-by-200 foot landing strip. The widespread distribution of handheld computers has helped boost morale aboard the Constellation and spurred ingenuity by sailors who are developing their own software to automate routine naval tasks.

Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=406223727

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PropellerHead

Registered: May 2000
Location: St. Paul, MN
Posts: 1429

but they use Palms

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-miradu

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Them Twin Cities
Posts: 1758

Well...

What springports would make the Visors necessary to the armed forces (I can see it now: "holdout pistol springboard", "Self-Destruct Springboard", "facepaint springboard", "scuba springboard".....)

Registered: Jun 2000
Location:
Posts: 594

Worse yet -- they're Palm Vs.
I'm guessing they sink in the water like razor blades.
Also, duh, aren't they more expensive than almost any other model?
Leave it to the Navy...
What they SHOULD do is commission HS (or Palm, I guess) to make a WATERTIGHT one that will FLOAT. And maybe use a DAYGLO color, so it can be easily seen, y'know, from a life-raft, or whatever.
Navy SB: GPS? (Put 'em in the life-rafts, or whatever.)

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"Great Spirits Have Always Encountered Violent Opposition From Mediocre Minds." -- Albert Einstein

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Posts: 217

Watertight would probably be nice but one that floats? If it goes overboard while they're underway, even in calm seas, it's gone whether it floats or not.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: bright side of the moon.
Posts: 996

based on the information on these devices, and the cost of other 'things' that get 'damaged' in the military. If i was in charge of this 'technology project', i'd want to use the Palm V form factor for the following reasons:

- metal case makes it tougher for everyday wear and tear.

- if it is dropped overboard, the price of 1 Palm V is A LOT less than the amount of fuel and effort required to send out a 'rescue craft', so making it float is pointless....which brings me to the final point.

- if one of these were to fall overboard, why would the navy want it to float and possible be found by somebody else? better have it sink like a rock and never be found again.


although there are occasions where they try to dispel my belief, i truly believe that the majority of the time, the military has thought things out. (but that's ANOTHER OFF TOPIC DISCUSSION....not be continued here.

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Stealth-Mod.

Registered: Jan 2001
Location: Midwest
Posts: 232

I doubt "overboard" is an excepted excuse for losing a Palm in the Navy. You could simply provide a belt hook and a retractable chain, or a neck chain to hook the Palm to. I also suspect that the navy issue palm isn't the same as the generic kind we can buy at Staples. It is surely MORE EXPENSIVE, and probably has a special paint or skin color. It may also be made more ruggedized, to survive banging against a missile or dropping on the deck. Also, with the games and personal data a soldier might have on his or her Palm, I suspect they'd be very protective of them. I'd tell them "lose yours, and your pay will be docked for the replacement".

Just a thought.

Dave

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There is nothing yet made by man that cannot be improved upon.

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 121

Just to put in my two cents...the Palm V's are standard models. The article was a little misleading in that all of the people that it talked about (Pilots) are officers. I think part of the reason Palm V's were chosen was because of the form factor...an officer can put it in his shirt pocket without a lot of bulk or bad looks. On my ship, the M100 has become popular as a similar, but much less expensive alternative. Of course, most of the guys (the working class) have to buy our own or do without. Obviously, I chose the former. So, I think as mentioned before, it was a conscious decision to go with the Palm V's originally regardless of cost, but that view is changing slowly. I don't think they counted on the fact that when your boss has one, many of the people who work for him start to need one too, because now he never forgets things to do, wants to beam appts etc, and so on. I will say that even though I bought my own visor, it has made my job much easier and more efficient. That is the whole point isn't it?
All of this is just my opinion and I don't presume to speak for anyone else, but there it is..

Dave

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If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice...

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Baltimore MD, USA
Posts: 717

A friend of mine with ties to the Navy said that the Palms worked great, but there were some teething pains.

There were repeater stations around the ship that would communicate with the Palms. If you were currently free of assigned tasks, when you went near a repeater it would note the fact, peel the top couple of tasks from the pending list and assign them to you.

This made the crewmen reluctant to go near repeaters.

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Registered: Jun 2000
Location:
Posts: 594

A lot of good posts made since my last one.
Yeah, I've re-thought it: orig., I thought a floating Palm / HS would be useful for someone stuck in a liferaft (anyone got real-world stats on how often this occurs?) to use the "SOS"-type repeating-backlight app that knows Morse Code (is that the app's name?).
But that might be outweighed by someone w/out a "secret clearance" finding the Palm / HS, even if it's got, say, TealLock on it. Maybe it's better if it sinks.
And to be rescued, I guess a long-burning flare would prob. be better.
How about the GPS thing; would they have any worth in a liferaft?
Then I thought, too, most of the data on a Palm / HS we only really have use for in "civilization" -- I don't know if Tom Hanks could do much w/one, say, in "CastAway" (I haven't see it yet), except mark the passing time.

Somehow I figured the Palm V's were for the officers. And it makes sense that the enlisted guys get the cheaper M100s -- even the smaller screens shouldn't affect them, as they STOP recruiting at what, 30? And I guess they have to pass an eye exam anyway.
And they're not only the smallest; also lightest, no? And being so light (hey; maybe those float, eh?), and having the only plexi-glass screens, in addition to the screen cover -- they're prob. even more indestructable than the Palm Vs.

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"Great Spirits Have Always Encountered Violent Opposition From Mediocre Minds." -- Albert Einstein

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 64

From my friend at the naval academy...

They don't need to be watertight because it will never get wet.

You don't need a special pilot, because no classified info will ever go on it.

All it is for is to keep young officers organized.

They are not issued at the academy.

They are only issued to new officers at SWOS (surface warfare officer school, in Newport, RI).

Enlisted people don't have them unless they buy one.

There is no such thing as "repeaters" aboard ship that update peoples "to do" or task list.

A life raft will never go overboard to recover a lost pilot....not happening.


Kamalot

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 121

quote:

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Originally posted by kamalot
From my friend at the naval academy...


All it is for is to keep young officers organized.

Enlisted people don't have them unless they buy one.



Kamalot

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After all, as we all know, young officers are the only ones in the Navy who need to be organized.
Actually, enlisted people can be issued a Palm / Visor as money and need allow.
Not to say that your friend is mistaken Kamalot, but he only sees one Naval community (as do I). That's what I was trying to say about the article originally...it only addressed the air community, not the navy as a whole.

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Registered: Jun 2000
Location:
Posts: 594

Gee, I guess I was never clear about how I supposed a PDA would end up in the water -- not w/out its owner!
I only meant in the event of a shipwreck, or something -- not just some clumsy yeoman dropping one in the drink.
Any stats on real-life shipwrecks?
(Slightly off topic: I was amazingly struck by a recent PBS doc on subs [in the wake of that recent Russian downing], and how often they fail -- and that it's pretty much common knowledge & assumed that everyone knows there's almost no chance they'll ever get out alive.)

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"Great Spirits Have Always Encountered Violent Opposition From Mediocre Minds." -- Albert Einstein

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

quote:

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Originally posted by bkbk
...I only meant in the event of a shipwreck, or something -- not just some clumsy yeoman dropping one in the drink.
Any stats on real-life shipwrecks?

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-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Registered: Jun 2000
Location:
Posts: 594

quote:

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Originally posted by dick-richardson

TAPS playing in the background
"We say good-bye to Johnny <nsip> silver lining: [b]WE FOUND HIS PALMPILOT!!!!!!"
My point is that shipwrech searchers have a much more important task than fishing for PalmPilots, however easy the fishing.

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"Great Spirits Have Always Encountered Violent Opposition From Mediocre Minds." -- Albert Einstein

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

quote:

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Originally posted by bkbk

No, no, no -- Johnny doesn't die; he uses his PalmPilot's Morse Code Glow Hack (is that the one?) to save himself...

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-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: NJ
Posts: 517

I'm not sure how common they are in the Air Force, but on a recent visit to a local base I noticed that one of the pilots had a PalmV. I had my Visor with me; funny he didn't ask me to exchange info ...

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Registered: Jun 2000
Location:
Posts: 594

quote:

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Originally posted by bkbk
KISMET: GREAT ARTICLE RIGHT NOW ON AVANT-GO'S "BEYOND 2000.COM" CHANNEL CALLED "DEEP THOUGHTS" ABOUT HOW IMPOSSIBLE IT IS TO RAISE (SAVE) PEOPLE FROM A DOWNED SUB -- IT'S ONLY BEEN DONE ***ONCE*** IN HISTORY!

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"Great Spirits Have Always Encountered Violent Opposition From Mediocre Minds." -- Albert Einstein

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Illinois
Posts: 2

On the Surface Warfare Officer Website there is a power point presentation on the Palm V so this must be the one that is issued at this school. My friend is stationed at EOD mobile Unit Three in San Diego and they are issued the 2mb Visor.