“WATCH DUTY” IS A FREE APP HELPING TO SAVE LIVES IS EXACTLY WHAT GREAT NEW TECH SHOULD BE
I used to be a serious technophile, and loved any bit of new tech simply because it was…. new. In the now olden days, many of my friends made fun of me for simply having to have the first iPhone, right after it first came out. And now? Everyone has a smart phone 50 times smarter since. But there’s been so much new tech in recent years it’s hard to keep up. And my enthusiasm died a slow, repeated death that started when Facebook went all-in on gouging the market it aimed on becoming, instead of letting the amazing petri dish of virtual community continue to evolve on its own. So I haven’t had much enthusiasm for some time. But the “Watch Duty” app harkens me back, if briefly, in remembering what new tech is actually supposed to be.
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WILDFIRE SURVIVOR JOHN MILLS CREATED WATCH DUTY AFTER SURVIVING A WILDFIRE IN 2020
It’s not a game, not in the slightest. It’s the brain child of one John Mills, who got stuck in the middle of the 2020 Wallbridge wildfire. Mills realized how impossible it was to try to make sense of critical wildfire data in order to best stay alive in that situation. Fortunately for him, and for us, he survived and made the development of Watch Duty an immediate priority. So what is it? It’s what he wished he had when he was navigating his way thru the wildfire in 2020. His motivation was clear at the time. He said, “Hey, I live in the woods, I’m gonna die, this has to get launched tomorrow.” And his team built it from scratch in just 80 days, with 50,000 users downloading it in its first week.
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WATCH DUTY BECAME ONE OF THE MOST DOWNLOADED FREE APPS EVER WITH THE CALIFORNIA FIRES RAGING
Watch Duty assembles evacuation notices, fire-maps and live radio with firefighters into a one-stop amalgamation for people to have a better chance to escape dangerous wildfire conditions. As you may know, wildfires in California have burned over 15,000 acres (so far), killed at least 5 (so far) and destroyed over 1,100 structures (so far). And the worst may still be to come. And Watch Duty, which is free, is not only being used by regular people, it’s also being used by the people fighting the fires. This week, Watch Duty became one of the most downloaded frees apps in the United States.
It almost makes me want to be a technophile again. Let’s hope and pray that Watch Duty, weather conditions and the Hand of God do all they can to save people’s lives and homes in California this week.
