Re: First Scope Advice (revised)

From: Chris L Peterson (clp_at_alumni.caltech.edu)
Date: 11/08/04 

Date: Mon, 08 Nov 2004 19:29:01 GMT

On 8 Nov 2004 10:47:10 -0800, tony_flanders@yahoo.com (Tony Flanders) wrote:

>Advising people against buying a department-store scope
>isn't elitist, but calling them "junk" definitely is.
>The connotation of "junk" is that the speaker has superior
>powers of discrimination, that the article in question is
>beneath him (or her). Just remember that Galileo would
>have killed to get one of those "junk" scopes!

I didn't say that they were all junk, just most of them- an assessment I will
stick by (and one I don't consider elitist).

Compared to the average newbie looking for a first telescope in a department
store, the majority of people around this NG are indeed possessed of superior
powers of discrimination! This comes from experience, which newbies lack.

To my way of looking at things, "junk" is a good term for a product designed for
a beginner, but which suffers from numerous problems that specifically make it
difficult or impossible for a beginner to use. You or I could probably get a lot
more out of a really cheap scope- enough to enjoy a better view than Galileo
had. But that isn't much help to a beginner.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

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