I was going to revisit this later, when we had some more concrete decisions, since this conversation seemed to go off the rails, a bit. But, I'll try one more time.
First, I take complete responsibility. I am not saying "you guys just don't get it". I am saying, I have done a poor job explaining. This is partially because I have discussed this system with a LOT of people over the past couple of weeks, and I don't remember what I've said to whom.
Also, part of this is that this is not a completed system, by any stretch. This is an early-days discussion. We have some general ideas, but nothing is set in stone yet. Some of what I mentioned will make it into the final product, some won't. And, there will be things we haven't even thought of yet. I was hoping that these discussions would help with that. You are seeing a really early glimpse behind the process of how these things are developed - not a finished proposal.
So, let's start with the premise or the perceived problem we are trying to address:
In our community, there are a lot of people on the water for all sorts of reasons in all sorts of vessels. For the most part, no one knows anyone else. If you belong to a club, you probably know people in your club, but that's about it. We see the same people on the water, frequently, but don't know anything about them. There is a general agreement among boaters in the area that they feel isolated from other boaters, even among some that belong to clubs.
We want to do a better job of creating a sense of community in our immediate local area. We live in an age when the increasing expectation that any such cohesion involves some digital communication. Good or bad, that is how it works, these days.
Part of belonging to a community is that we help each other out. It is important, even if we never use it, to feel like you do have support in the community, if you need it.
Ways I, personally, would use this app:
- "Hey, I am at my boat and need to turn her around in her slip. Anyone lend a hand?"
- "I brought my Sailrite machine out to the boat today (at the marina) and am done with my project. Anyone need anything while I've got it out?"
- "We are anchored over near Fairhaven and just blew our spare cooling belt. LFS has it in stock. Is someone coming this way in the next day or two?"
I have towing insurance and, if I really need a professional, I will call a professional. This isn't for that. The app might be able to give you important phone numbers that you might not have had on-hand. But, that would just be a courtesy. So, let's say I reached out about that belt. As part of the response, the system might offer up other people I could call directly, if I need to. But, the emphasis is on community helping community, first.
It has obvious (hopefully) uses for things like organized cruises or race nights, where VHF chatter isn't appropriate and most other media (like group text) lacks the ability to include positional information (mapping) and/or filter messages that don't pertain.
My hope is that yacht and paddling clubs will be among early adopters. Then, we convince clubs to share "channels" to broaden the community and break down some silos.
There are other tools that address this need partially, but none is purpose-built for the on-the-water community. SeaPeople is maybe an exception and I think the comparison is a fair one. Honestly, I think the main differentiators from SeaPeople are:
- Marketing: We hope to appeal to a broader demographic (in terms of age, personality, etc.) but also highly-localized. That is, it is probably not for anyone outside of about 25-30 mile radius. If it becomes available in the next town over, it will probably be highly-localized to them. There won't be much emphasis placed on joining those two communities in any way, but rather on strengthening each community's local ties.
- Structure: I think we are more focused on deliberate communication, rather than chatter. That is, maybe you want to see who is up for an impromptu BBQ out on the bay. I should be able to choose not to be notified of those sorts of messages/requests. Or, maybe that's the only kind of message I want. The structure puts individuals in better control so that it isn't just more noise that can/should be 99% ignored.
- Visibility: It also tells the person reaching out how many people are in the area that are open to receiving that kind of message. No point in a BBQ invitation if no one is nearby who might be open to that.
- Local: At least for now, confined to our local area, people can walk right up to the people who built and run the system. It is not some company somewhere else doing who-knows-what with your data, and not interested in your suggestions for improvement. That makes it easier for local clubs to warm to the idea, in some ways. It can be highly customized to fit the community.
Also, WhatsApp was mentioned, and it is often used in ways that overlap what this system would do. I, personally, will never install WhatsApp or any Meta product. It is the burden of knowledge of how the company runs. I think it is problematic to require folks to install it if they want to participate in the reindeer games with everyone else. It is a good example, however, of our assertion that people use the tools they are most familiar with.
Importantly, our system will support an optional SMS (text messaging) interface. So, if you don't have a data signal or just don't want to install the app, you can still participate.
Yes, this still requires a signal and, no, this is not always available. But, this isn't for every possible situation. It isn't meant to be a tool you rely on in remote areas, or an emergency hailing tool, or any application where a lack of signal would be particularly problematic. Nearly all boats on the water in our region at any given moment are well within cell range. I actually suspect it will get a big chunk of its use just at the marina. And, it probably won't be particularly useful outside of our bay. But, 90% (completely made up number) of all on-the-water activity of people in this area takes place in the bay.
Hopefully, that is a better explanation than I offered, previously.
If it still isn't for you, that's completely fine. Like I've said, it probably isn't really for me, either. That is, if I didn't build it, I'm not sure I would use it. But, we're getting really strong feedback from people who believe they would. I'm trying to understand what people do and don't want, so we can make a better system.
