Re: Celestron and Int Star Registry

On Sat, 28 Jul 2007 09:59:39 -0600, Greg Crinklaw
<theskyhoundyoureye@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I think you are being ridiculous to the point of silliness. This does
no harm to anyone...

The ISR is sleazy, regardless of whether they are actually doing
anything illegal (and they've certainly come close enough to illegal to
get themselves involved in a few serious investigations). They have also
used legal blackmail to go after completely non-commercial websites that
attempt to explain why you can't really buy a star from them. I'm quite
certain that the vast majority of astronomers, professional and amateur,
have very little respect for the ISR.

Celestron, on the other hand, is a company that most astronomers do have
a reasonable degree of respect for. And I would hope that Celestron, in
turn, respects the amateur astronomy community. Running a contest like
this (they go so far as to actually say that ISR will make the awarded
name "official") simply disrespects most of us. It's a stupid move on
the part of Celestron- one presumably coming from somebody in their
marketing department who simply doesn't know better.

I've written to Celestron, and so apparently have many others. And it
seems that our voices have been heard, because the ISR component of this
contest seems to have been removed. So Celestron heard, understood, and
reacted. Good for them!

_________________________________________________

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

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Celestron and Int Star Registry
    ... have very little respect for the ISR. ... Celestron, on the other hand, is a company that most astronomers do have ... While I don't necessarily disagree that the ISR is a bit sleezy, I still think your reaction is bigoted and, well... ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • Re: Celestron and Int Star Registry
    ... a star named after them through a partnership with International Star ... Following the contest, Celestron will announce the people's choice ... another Celestron product unless this promotion is ended immediately. ... I think astronomers who get all upset about the ISM are really just "protecting their turf" in a most irrational and vulgar way. ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
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