[WikiEN-l] Wikipedia misinformation, revisited

Mon Sep 5 22:22:17 UTC 2005

Back in June, I complained that a little particle of misinformation  
from Wikipedia had gotten lodged in my brain, and might potentially  
have affected my car-purchasing decision. Specifically, I was  
referring to an article that characterized the Toyota Echo, as a  
"flop" in the U.S. whose sales had tanked in 2004 and was due to be  
discontinued--despite continuing success in many other countries,  
including Canada.

I challenged this, and Michael Turley responded that "The Echo is a  
failure, and is being discontinued." He referenced  http:// 
www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0501/14/B02-58761.htm which indeed  
says "Toyota to pull compact Echo from lineup in '06"

Yet I just got my October 2005 copy of Consumer Reports, and right  
there on page 14 the Toyota Echo is billed among the "New and  
Notable: Cars to Watch in 2006-2007." They say "It should continue as  
a fuel-efficient small car... Small cars often grow with redesigns so  
you may see a longer, wider Echo and possibly a hatchback version."

So, just what's going on? I'm not really complaining about Wikipedia  
here, since what it says is backed up by "The Detroit News Auto  
Insider," but if the Echo is being replaced by an improved Echo-- 
that's not exactly my idea of a "flop" that's been "discontinued."

By that measure, every refreshing of a car model line could be  
described as a "flop."

--
Daniel P. B. Smith, dpbsmith at verizon.net
"Elinor Goulding Smith's Great Big Messy Book" is now back in print!
Sample chapter at http://world.std.com/~dpbsmith/messy.html
Buy it at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1403314063/