The problem with massive tanks

During World War II the Germans built Tiger Tanks. Designed to dominate, these tanks were massive - weighing 54 tons with a 88m gun that could destroy the enemy from 2,000 yards out.

Germany’s Tiger Tanks were quite intimidating.

To beat Germany, one might think that the USA would need bigger tanks. But the USA took quite the opposite approach.

Instead of building bigger tanks, the USA built smaller tanks (called Sherman Tanks) that were half the size (30 tons) with thinner armor and a smaller gun.

With small tanks, how did the USA beat Germany and their massive Tiger Tanks?

Tiger Tanks were complicated. Sherman Tanks were simple.

• Operating a Tiger Tank took German soldiers months of training. American soldiers could jump in a Sherman Tank and start driving just like they would in a car.

• Tiger Tanks were slow - moving at top speeds of 25 MPH and often broke down in the mud and snow. Sherman Tanks reliably moved at faster speeds of 30-35 MPH.

• Because of their simplicity, the USA could produce 36 Sherman Tanks for every 1 Tiger Tank the Germans produced. This meant that total tank production during the war favored the USA 49,000 to 1,350.

Germany’s Tiger Tanks looked great on paper, but because they were complicated, slow and outnumbered, they lost in battle quite a bit.

At this point you might be thinking, “Ian, thank you for the history lesson, but what does this have to do with races?”

Great question.

These days, registration technology and timing systems often brag about their millions of features and powerful tools. Just like Germany’s Tiger Tanks, the technology and systems look good on paper. But is the complexity worth it?

Instead of optimizing for complexity, Run The Day optimizes for simplicity.

Just like the USA designed Sherman Tanks for American Soldiers to start operating without training, we’ve built intuitive software that anyone can start using.

In WWII, American soldiers wanted to fight for our country without wasting months learning to operate a complicated tank.

Today, we want you to host a race that brings your community together without wasting precious time in webinars learning how to use complicated software.

-Ian

A race filled with energy and love

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