On 30 Dec 2004 13:30:24 -0800, Ted Nichols II
wrote:

I also
feel they're great for public outreach in this day and age, it allows
you to really point out something to people, but I will point out
plenty of people learned the constellations before the advent of green
lasers.

Sure. There are a lot of things that were done without modern
technology. But this very tired argument, which seems to get applied to
just about everything new, is just meaningless. People crossed continents
without airplanes (it just took days instead of hours). People got
information from the other side of the world without radio and television
(it just took weeks instead of minutes). People did mathematical analysis
without computers (it just sometimes took years instead of seconds).
Astronomers took deep sky photos without CCDs (it just took longer,
etc.). And people taught the constellations without green laser
pointers. It's just far easier, faster and more effective with a green
laser pointer. And that goes for quite a lot of new technology. You can
always say something was accomplished before and the new methods aren't
necessary. But it very rarely turns out the old way was better for the
majority of people. If it were, the majority of people would still be
doing it the old way.

Sorry, Ted, but this isn't just aimed at your innocent comment. You made
it clear you favor the laser for this purpose. I just seem to be noticing
that kind of argument a lot lately. And the grumpy old men who use it
make me very grumpy indeed! ;-)

Mike Simmons
Old crumudgeon in training