"Ducati...out of the box thinking....." That's worth agreeing on and disagreeing on.
Agree it's time for more "out of the box." all we have now (1098, 848) is an evolved desmoquatro. good and bad for reasons people that know Ducati can discuss. It's simply an evolution of 916. Nothing major has happened. Less metal for weight, bigger bore and valves, and improved technology. Let us be wowed by power of a stock 1098 or 1198, or be wowed by people that are still cranking 150+ hp off a 996. Either way, I'm not complaining.
Disagree, Ducati has been out of the box. Has been for a while. 1st, you can actually tell the difference in body style from year to year. 1.5, they are worlds ahead in style and in every model since 1995. 2nd, loads of their improvements are found in the GP class and will later make its way to your home, so don't discount their work even though it was relatively stale from 1999-2006. 3rd, it's still running 2 cylinders. if they were in the box they would have conformed to the i-4s. 4th, it's called a Ducati. there are a number of other reasons but i'd rather go drink beer and have dinner than keep typing.