"What the heck, man?" Awards, 1/18/12

 Some things in life are puzzling.  Some are troubling.  Some just don't make any sense.  Here are my first "What the heck, man?" awards for January 18th, 2012.

"What the heck, man?" award for 2012 (so far): The iPad 3
It's not so much that I'm upset that they're planning to release the newest iPad in March.  Actually, this "What the heck, man?" is more so in disbelief, for the genius of the product and this release.  Apple somehow keeps getting it right, and though they aren't perceived as such, they've become the power that Microsoft once was when we were all bickering about how powerful they were.  Apple completely dominates the market for tablets, smartphones, and mp3 players.  The release of the iPad 3 (if it is in March, as speculated) might come across as short-sighted, as we just passed the holiday shopping season, but it is nothing short of brilliant.  Tablets are a huge trend right now, and amazingly, the trend is still growing.  Personally, I don't see the trend slowing down until tablets are as commonly owned as laptops.  Given that this is #3, this product will not only be attractive to new iPad customers, but iPad 1 owners will feel more justified in purchasing an upgrade.  And, most importantly, with consideration of Apple's usual 6-month cycle for product releases, this sets up the iPad 4 to be released in September or October.

"What the heck, man?" award for iOS apps: GymPact
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57359919-71/new-iphone-app-makes-you-cough-up-for-missing-gym/?tag=cnetRiver
I'm assuming you've read at least a little bit of this link now, but a big "What the heck, man?" goes to society for this product's future (as I predict) as a mainstream product.  Yes, you put in your credit card information, and it punishes you for not going to the gym.. by taking your money.  Now certainly, it's a novel concept as a motivator.  Very few things motivate us humans more than the idea of losing money.  However, this idea both baffles and scares me when I think about it and its relation to the state of human kind.  Look, I'm no good at attending the gym, and this app would probably work on me.  But this is just another invention that can become a crutch, to the point that we end up confused or disheartened when it is absent.  Relying on GymPact will cause us to fail to develop the ability to push ourselves to the gym.  Theoretically, this lack of ability to motivate ourselves will also bleed into other activities in our lives, where we'll want apps to push us through our daily lives.  I wish we didn't need these sort of things, and that we could step up and do things on our own.  But I'll relinquish this much: maybe GymPact can just act as a temporary solution for building the habit of going to the gym.  I guess we shall see.

"What the heck, man?" award for football: Impatient executives
It's plagued football for almost as long as I've watched it, but there's just no patience in the football world anymore.  Hue Jackson, coach of the Raiders, got fired after one season where his team almost made the playoffs, despite a tumultuous season in losing owner Al Davis, and injuries to most of the starting skill players around mid-season.  The Colts fired Jim Caldwell after a 2-14 season, which is a little more reasonable given that he was there for a few seasons, but I thought they could've given him at least one more season with a healthy Peyton Manning.  The Broncos still seem to refuse to show confidence in Tim Tebow as their starting quarterback of the future.  Tebow helped the Broncos achieve great things this year, and has only been in the league for two seasons.  I understand that impatience is caused by the fear of making less money (key: not LOSING money, but making less), but continuity and chemistry can be major elements to success (just look at the consistency of the Patriots and Steelers over the years), and this fear of making less money is crippling team executives from allowing coaches and players enough time to build that continuity and chemistry.

Thanks for tuning in to the first "What the heck, man?" awards!