Vespa's keep up with traffic... ORLY?

Posted this morning on Vancouver's Straight.com an article titled, "Vespa's punchy new scooter keeps up with traffic" caught my attention and then immediately left me feeling slightly offended.

As of late, I've been getting sent a lot of articles and posts about publications just now, almost eight years after the re-debut, discovering the Vespas, Piaggios and scooters in general. In the defense of these recent articles, I'd say that it's arguable that media folks are extremely busy-types. They have deadlines to meet, writing about things they don't know anything, nor care about. Eventually, one of these folks will write a story that we're familiar with, and we're either left applauding the facts or, more likely than not, left feeling empty. The post on Straight.com was, presumably, destined to fit in the latter catagory.

Assuming soley from the title that the author would simply not do enough research to sound educated on the subject generally, I read the post and for whatever reason, found it humourous that:

1. I was right and...


2. The post was obviously written as filler: no real substance

That said, I'm still found myself feeling a bit offended after reading statements such as, "...Vespas are kind of like Harley-Davidsons..." and, "Instrumentation is virtually nonexistent—a speedometer and fuel gauge with some idiot lights, and that’s about it. But for the majority of those interested in this kind of ride, that’s more than enough."

That last quote really did me in; not only did it prove that the author doesn't care about the subject matter of which he/she wrote about, it also highlights the fact that he or she doesn't care about the audience who is interested in said subject matter. In my humble opinion, if you can't write for your audience, why are you even writing? If you're not sure as to why I'm worked up over such a mundance peice of writing, I'd explain it as asking you to think about how this small and unremarkably written post may not change minds one way or another for folks who own and ride a scoot, but for those who may still be considering adding a scooter into their stable of vehicles, the tone alone could deter them from finding out for themselves how wonderful the world of small motorcycling can be.

That's why I'm ragging on this post so much.

As partially mentioned before, I would normally just skip over something like this as I don't neccessarily consider it worth a read (I am biased afterall!) but I'd like to know what you think of the post. You can check it out here.