As we're approaching the end of year 2011, let's look at the year in terms of some car ideas and "innovations" that didn't really succeed. In fact, in some way or another, they actually failed, and pretty bad at that. As the auto industry competes to sell cars, many companies became more profitable than others due to the design, gas efficiency, and new ideas that their cars provided. Take a look at some car ideas that actually flopped in terms of sales, profitability, marketability, and overall unoriginality. For one, car companies that tried to design crossover models either are highly successful, or fail miserably. For crossovers to succeed, car producers need to focus on two key components - handling and visibility for the drivers and passengers. The reliability of Crossovers in 2011 have been very low or well below average with 5 year of ownership of these vehicles. Another way to scope out an automotive flop is to look at dwindling sales numbers coupled with bad automotive reviews. Along with the idea of new car designs that fall short of expectations, we see another common characteristic of cars that fail. Regressive redesigns pretty much sums it up. When car companies run out of ideas, the worst thing they can do is to go back on a design that actually succeeded but were not included in the new version due to poor planning and design. On other occasions, the redesign of a car may actually do great in one country - say China or Japan but are a complete flop in the United States Markets.
You can say the same about the bigger A3. In a nutshell, that's a bigger and more expensive A1 (or Volkswagen Golf for that matter). When I say expensive. A well specified A1, with a 1.0 litre, turbocharged unit, will set you back nearly £30,000. Put into consideration that a Ford Fiesta ST is around £10,000 cheaper. Not only will Ford's small car be quicker, but way more fun pound for pound than the Audi. You're getting way more car for your money here. Then you can go on about the other similarly priced junior Hot Hatches in that price bracket. In the VAG stable, you can save around £7,000, and get a VW Polo GTi. Or for the near the price of that A1, a SEAT Leon Cupra R! Need I say more? In the grand scheme of things. Does the soft-touch plastics, and the kudos of the Audi badge, justify the premium? Over the already decent and well-rounded and well-rounded Polo that it's based on? Then you have the cheaper Skoda Fabia, and SEAT Ibiza, that shares much in common with it too. For me, no. I'm sorry to say this, but the Audi A1 is overpriced, over hyped and overrated. You're not getting much more car for the extra cash here, are you? To sum it all up, the Audi A1 has the qualities and merits of those songs made and composed by Phil Collins. But a number of people who'll have one, will aspire to be more like Gemma Collins. Cast the image aside, the Audi A1 is expensive for what it is.
Is shoefiti an art? Are you wondering why people hang shoes on power lines? Well, I was too! Merriam Webster's Dictionary defines art as: “the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects.” The controversy lies in what connotes aestheticism, naturally beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Generally speaking, I do not find graffiti particularly artistic, perhaps because I don't appreciate public defacement of bridges, buildings, trains, and signs. I have, upon occasion, however been impressed by the sheer talent exhibited by some of these graffiti artists. I've taken a second glance and wished this artistic expression was painted onto a more appropriate canvas. Strangely, I am mesmerized by shoefiti. Shoe tossing has been observed in areas of the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Mexico and Ecuador. This art form is shrouded in mystery which helps perpetuate the fascination behind shoe flinging.
Some have theorized it began as a military practice as early as World War II, where soldiers would fling their combat boots over a telephone or power line to symbolize the completion of active duty or basic training. These boots were often spray painted orange. Other such rites of passage have been implicated in this ritual such as: graduations, births or marriage. In Scotland, shoefiti is associated with a young man's loss of virginity. Shoe trees frequent college campuses, perhaps following Scotland's tradition, or as a symbol of a particularly successful sexual conquest. Some shoes might dangle to represent an athlete's achievement of shoes that have reached their xxxth mile. Supposedly, drug seekers need only look to the house closest to the hanging shoes to score. Symbolism is attached to the hanging shoes for the heroin user, as once the drug has taken you, walking away is no longer possible. Or perhaps that heroin addiction will steal the very shoes off your feet. Many argue the drug house marking, saying no dealer would be so stupid as to point law authorities to the location of a drug hub.
