From Ross Bentley's emaillist
Quote:
I think you know that I don't like to waste your time by sending you emails about things that you can't use. I hate spammy emails more than anyone! So, I only send messages when I have something important to share with you. Today, is one of those times.
Over the past couple of years, I've been consulting with Garmin (yes, the watch, avionics, marine, GPS, etc. company) on a product for motorsport, and it's just been announced. To say I'm excited about it is an understatement!
It's called the Garmin Catalyst, and it's kinda creating a new category within what might be considered the data/telemetry world. They define it as a driving performance optimizer. To me, it's like what snowboarding was to skiing. Sure, both sports involved sliding down a snow-covered mountain, but they're different. And sure, the Garmin Catalyst uses data, but it's focused on helping you be a better driver and really optimize your time on the track.
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Quick story: Not quite a year ago, I spent two full days driving at Heartland Park, focused on providing feedback on the usability of the Catalyst. For me, it was a blast! Two days of having a car and track to myself, and all I had to do was drive consistently at the limit and give feedback on how the Catalyst product worked for me. After all that track time, to say that I was comfortable driving at the limit was an understatement - I knew the car and track well. Towards the very end of the second day, I set out with one objective: to listen to the Catalyst - to have it coach me on what to do to be an even better driver. It told me to focus on three things (Opportunity 1, 2 & 3), and I did. After just half a dozen laps, I had knocked 0.9 seconds off my very best lap time! I was shocked. I thought I was already driving the car at its limit, and yet the Catalyst found almost a full second for me.
As author James Clear says, "When feedback is immediate, clear, and concrete, people learn quickly. When feedback is delayed, abstract, and opaque, people rarely learn." That's the problem with most data systems - you don't get the feedback until you're back in the paddock, where you can't do much about it (then you have to pull out the laptop, and interpret a bunch of squiggly lines on a screen). With the Garmin Catalyst, feedback is immediate, real-time, when you can do something about it.
I'm a huge proponent of using data to help improve one's driving, but I've always felt that these data systems were designed by engineers, for engineers, and us drivers had to adapt them to help us improve our driving. The Garmin Catalyst is designed first by drivers, for drivers. It's a driver's tool. It's like having a driver coach, like me, with you at all times - in the car, and between on-track sessions.
No, don't worry, I'm not changing careers and becoming a salesperson for Garmin! But, having been involved in the development of the Catalyst, I'm proud of what it does. It's going to revolutionize our track-driving world.
Check it out by clicking here.
Keep learning and having fun!
Ross
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