[bush555]

http://www.elementownersclub.com/house0803.htm

Great piece, Mr. House! Thank you.

Here's to new horizons...

 

[William F. House]

Thanks very much. It was a fun article to write (if somewhat self-serving since we're Element owners).

I'd love to hear people's thoughts on some of the individual points made (good, bad or indifferent).

Thanks again.

 

[StLouisPenguin]

William-

Interesting article, while I can't say that I agree whole-heartedly with your ideas, I will say that I found your article thought provoking.

As a fellow writer, I know that sometimes the best compliment that someone can give me after reading something I wrote is that it made them think. So, my hats off to you for that!

 

[William F. House]

Thank you, Diane. Which parts do you disagree with specifically? I'd love to hear since that's one of the reasons I write (to hopefully write things that are, as you say, thought-provoking and maybe instigate a little debate along the way).

I'll check back later as I have a two year old daughter that is in desperate need of going to the park right now.

 

[William F. House]

And before I forget....I wanted to publicly say thank you to Tom for featuring the piece. You're a good guy, Tom.

 

[eMass]

William,

I enjoyed reading this article as well. I like the idea that you are trying to correlate the Element with rebels and those that think differently - especially since I own one. :wink:

Looking forward to more!

 

[Kayakin' Dan]

I must say, Mr. House; Bitchin'!

 

[William F. House]

Thanks Dan.

And thanks, Bush555.....that was very good. We should've collaborated. That would've been great info to include.

 

[switters]

this is going to seem like, perhaps, a very large jump from your piece on element users, but you have a neighbor there in boulder who is a bastion of evolutionary thinking, not only in terms of society and culture but in terms of ecology, spirituality and the independent and interdependent evolution of them all. his name is ken wilber. if you haven't read any of his work, i would highly recommend you pick up one of his books and see what you think.

peace

 

[William F. House]

Switters...I think I've seen Ken around town on a few occasions (that shiny bald head is hard to miss), but I've never read any of his stuff. I'll be sure to add one of his books to my already too tall stack of "to-be-reads". Thanks.

Diane, I'd still like to hear from you regarding my question above.

 

[boneheadz]

nicely done thanx

 

[StLouisPenguin]

Like I said before, I do not agree whole heartedly....I believe that it can be a very scary thing when you start making broad based generalizations about any group.

While I believe that many of the more vocal EOC members fit your generalized definitions of Element owners, I do not believe that all Element owners can be fit into a cookie cutter mold. After all, we must not forget that after all it is just an automobile. We may want to think that we are different or the next generation, but all in all we did just purchase a car that suited our lifestyle.

I do not wish to start a debate on this website....I have said that I believe that there are many Element owners that fit your description.

 

[Nat]

Titled:
Some demographic reflections
or
I'm off today from work today and can squander valuable time while free porn surfing

Practicality is a strong value among this group (especially as the $ value increases)

This group also tends to be very comfortable with technology. A sizable sub-group of Element owners actually work in high-tech industries.

Objective facts/data such as brand history, reliability etc.... figured strongly in the decision making process. (in my own case, I actually had a CRV on order but decided on the E for it's utility and not it's looks).

Educational level attained: This is for new honda element vehicle purchases.
My guess that the majority have a college degree. I wonder what is the % of advanced degrees (MA, MS JD, Ph.D, MD etc...)

Avg. annual income: My guess around $50-$75,000 (does not include spouse/partner income)

There is a sub-group who rate high on the dorkiness factor (more comfortable with machines then people) This could be under another sub heading of psychological-social history. I like dorky better then "Psycho-Social". Dorky adds some fun, unless of course you became very uncomfortable while reading this paragraph.

Tend to think "outside the box". ie: creative problem solvers


Tend to to be independent thinkers. medium level on the conventional/un-conventional scale


Political affiliations: That should be interesting.
Is Wicca a religeon?


A sizable sub-group of Element owners are, er well sizable. I'm currently on the Fatkins diet. (Fatkins= F _ _ k atkins) . Yeah yeah this stat is easy to speculate because something like 50% of north americans are overweight and I have unresolved emotional needs to be your intellectual Svengali.

To be continued...........
I don't want to be late for my E gun rack installation and small block V8 open hood transplant. They also gotta remove a polyp from my tail pipe.

 

[William F. House]

Thanks for the reply, Diane. I found your response to be interesting. I don't think I stated or really implied any generalizations other than to equate Element owners with thinkers.

As for the cookie cutter point, I'm in full agreement - no one should be made to fit a mold. Again, not the intent of the article (and the main reason that I opened with the line from Patton).

And Nat, interesting demographic points. I, myself worked at Cisco Systems for quite a while (until leaving the IT industry to write full time).

 

[switters]

the political affiliations question is one that i've wondered about myself. i have an idea but don't want to skew any responses by putting that out there. would be interesting, however.

diane, i am curious where the concerns about "cookie cutter" are coming from. there might be something in the piece that i missed. when i read it, i came away with a sense of diversity among e owners rather than generalizations. but, that's just from my perspective.

nat, if you're right in your demographics observations, that means the majority of us are fat geeks with limited social skills and above average disposable incomes. i think i like william's picture better.

and yes, wicca is a religion.

 

[William F. House]

Switters, that last paragraph was pure gold, man ("Gold, Jerry! Gold!"). I'm imagining some Honda demographic research assistants somewhere scratching their heads.

 

[StLouisPenguin]

Honestly the cookie cutter mold is of a "Thinker"....I am not saying that I , myself, or any other members are not intelligent, free-thinking individuals....but perhaps that out of the 40,000+ Element Owners out there that there may be a few who are not free thinking, future embracing persons.

I also seem to think that the speculation of the demographics of said individuals may be a bit presumptious. I am probably not what is preceived...first off I am female, 27, main bread winner, do not have a college degree, am in the 50,000n to 75,000 income bracket without my spouse's salary, republican, catholic, and not in a technology based career.

I think the best thing you can say about the E is that it appeals to a broad base of indivduals....they key word here being individuals.

I also want to point out that I did say that I don't whole heartedly agree with the entire article, I do however agree with several points, and think that the article is very well written and thought provoking, after all if it wasn't we wouldn't still be talking about it.

I aplaud the self expression and exchange of thoughts that occur on these boards. We are all different and that is simply the point that I was trying to express.

My hats off to Mr. House for giving us yet another topic to think about and discuss.

 

[switters]

yes, we are all different. but we all share a love of our vehicles (which, with some of us borders on the frighteningly obsessive) and so in some senses we are all the same. we've reached the point with this where it's becoming mental masturbation to continue, but i studied religion in college so mental masturbation is what i'm ultimately best at.

maybe we should get a whole new section of the board going on the philosophy of the element. elementalism? elementarian?

william, it's interesting that you know ken wilber's shiny bald head but not his work. i suppose he would be kind of hard to miss in a crowd, though.

 

[William F. House]

Viva le difference.

Thanks for expanding on your thoughts a bit more, Diane.

And Switters, Wilber is one of many local celebrities here in Boulder (it's a pretty colorful town) and someone pointed him out to me once and told me about his writings and such. I've just never picked up anything of his. As I said before....I'll have to remedy that.

 

[desert_E]

Yes, we EOC members are all unique. Just like everybody else...