Daniela Perdomo realized that without a cellular connection, your phone is basically useless after Hurricane Sandy hit New York in 2012, leaving her without power or internet connection.
Seeing how real this problem was, Daniela began a tech startup called goTenna. Her devices are candy-bar sized transmitters that can send text messages even if there is no cellular connection.
goTenna’s techn
ology has a much broader application than people living in the aftermath of a hurricane. Recently these devices have been used by first responders, the military, and even the Department of Homeland Security.
The company uses what is called “mesh networking” which expands by connecting users on a peer-to-peer basis. These small devices are built to be portable and can be attached to a backpack using a small clip. The price of one of these transmitters is $179, and is becoming more accessible than ever to consumers with a constantly expanding network.
This was such an innovative idea! I have been in many situations where this would have been useful (though most of them can be summed up in a minor “first-world” inconvenience). There are many situations where this could possibly save lives, as you mentioned with first responders, military, and Homeland Security. It is amazing that such a small, simple product could solve such a massive problem!
This is a good idea that has so many applications outside of her initial use. She will do so well selling these. If I were her, I’d look to sell these to the US Military. While they have things for when communicating with each other off the grid, this, perhaps, would be a new and better way of doing this, All in all, I like this idea and I think it will go very far.
Not really sure how this is much different from a Walkie-talkie, but the idea seems great! It is awesome to see that people take hard times like hurricanes, and develop innovative ideas that will help in the future. I think it would be very cool if there was a way to implement this technology directly into phones, so that two devices would not be needed.
I had never heard of this product before now but it is a really good idea and I think more people need to hear about it. There are many possible emergency situations outside of a hurricane where your phone could lose service and you would have no way of calling for help. This device could help save lives. I also see a lot of opportunities for future changes and improvements on this device. It can be made smaller and more easily portable or even become some type of software that’s just put directly into phones. It could also increase its communication range and capabilities. There is a lot of potential with this idea.
This is a wonderful idea! Not only a civilian application of military tech- but a great tool for disaster preparedness. At the price point that is hard to beat. This is a tool that we should all have just-in-case. It would be interesting to see what impact technology like this would have in developing/third world countries.
This is a really interesting idea! I love how she had a problem that she personally experienced and used that problem to create such an innovative way of communicating. I can really see how this can be very beneficial for military, first respondents, and Homeland Security purposes!
This seems like a great idea! I can definitely see how it can be beneficial for military, Homeland Security, and first respondents in areas where cell service is not strong, even under normal circumstances. It’s also different from a radio or walkie-talkie because those have a limited range they can transmit. This device is something that I could see many people, especially those in natural disaster prone areas, purchasing.