By Steve Forand
Aloha,
Is that the rustle of Palm tree fonds that I hear in the warm Tradewinds? Is that the smell of plumeria wafting through the air? Oh hell no, I am not in Hawaii, just having a flashback! I only wish I was wearing shorts and flip-flops at this time of the year. Warmer weather is around the corner and if you really believe that then hope springs eternal!
Last month, I mentioned that several magazines were reporting that motorcycle sales throughout the country are relatively stagnant. Sales numbers are down, and most manufacturers (apart from BMW) had a disappointing year, especially in the US. If you are reading any motorcycling online content, there is now a plethora of articles on motorcycle sales in the US. What I have noticed, is that most of these articles are poorly written. No central theme, the presentation has no unifying points to make, just a listing of opinions picked up from other articles with different pictures of motorcycles. This trend is not limited to motorcycles, but in just about any topic, many of the online contributors do not write well.
As someone who had graded hundreds of papers, I have always found myself reading not just for the information, but assessing the articles organization, style, thesis (if there is one) and grammar. The established magazines do a better job, but as anyone can contribute online with little if any review by an editor, many authors are worth nothing more that a quick glance. Of course, with the blossoming of AI related help in writing, we may not even know if the article was AI generated. I have seen several articles identified as AI generated, but one can surmise that as AI becomes more prevalent and accepted, those identifiers will ultimately disappear. We live in interesting times.
Do not forget to renew your membership!
See you on Monday night! Come early for dinner and camaraderie.
Secretary
Steve