TO BE THE BEST
W
hen we undertake a project,
anything for that matter. We can
either do it in a competitive context
or we can do it for self-fulfillment. More
times than not these two coincide and it is
at such times that we reach greater heights
than we otherwise would.
What does it really mean to be the best?
Yes it means being ahead of everybody else.
However if you take away the competition,
does it mean anything to say we are the
leaders? I don’t think it does. It is in light of this
that I find myself wondering just how many
vendors, IHV’s or companies strive to be the
best. Wanting to sell the most, having the most
market share, etc. is a fairly straight forward
process but actually being the best, at least
philosophically to me means something else.
(Commercial success by the way, should be
pursued and it is paramount to all business and
should be so.)
It means, regardless of the competition,
pushing oneself farther seeking perfection.
There is no such thing as perfect in the
material world, but it doesn’t make seeking it
any less meaningful. It is by that very effort that
humanity has created some truly magnificent
breakthroughs and undertaken some life
shaping projects.
In any sphere and any market, there has to
be a member which seeks perfection. That
entity will break down barriers that are
above and beyond what is deemed necessary.
These entities drag the rest of the field
kicking and screaming into new eras. It is
by this mechanism that I was drawn to F1
racing. A motorsport at the pinnacle of motor
engineering. Where fast is not good enough,
but to win one truly has to be the best. The
culmination of millions of dollars, thousands
of hours in R&D and meticulous attention
to minutia is brought to bear on a Sunday
afternoon. The entire sport is underpinned,
not by sales or popularity but the desire to be
the Champion. At the pinnacle of engineering,
seeking the perfect union between man and
machine. Fighting for one tenth of a second,
because such small margins matter. They
come together to make hundreds of meters in
the end.
In a field where every car is fast, where
every car is faster than the fastest car in any
other discipline. The words “good” or “fast”
mean nothing. It is a sport where trying your
best is not good enough. Time and time again,
teams will come together to do better than they
thought possible, all because that is what it
takes to be the Champion.
To think how much effort, dedication, time, passion,
training, money and so much more go into this sport for each
and every team. It’s staggering; more so when you realize
that none of these cars will ever go on sale. The vast majority
of the technology will not make it to their road going cars for
years on end. For some teams, they do not even have road
cars. The tire manufacture, has no possible way of selling
these tires to the vast majority of their customers. Yet they
are made to spec, built to last where they should and degrade
where they ought to. The entire undertaking is one that is so
far removed from direct sales, yet it is precisely where the
best congregate. It is here where our finest as a species in
motor mechanics and engineering gather.
There is something to be said about such an exercise and
it is one that we can all hopefully appreciate in its premise.
Many do not care for motorsport and I would even argue even
fewer care for F1, but it is undeniable what it means to the
world of motor mechanics and racing.
This drive, this passion and need to be the best is what is
lacking in just about all computer related endeavors barring
software and less than a handful of hardware vendors. In fact
I can only count three to be exact.
[ Neo Sibeko - Editor ]
Issue 34 | 2015 The OverClocker 3