Telescope sales are off the chart

Speaking of which, our little club at JPL has received a couple of new
membership applications. Nothing earth-shattering considering there
are still over 4,000 people working there, but it is something that
hasn't happened in a while.

--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Never be afraid of trying something new for the love of it.
Remember... amateurs built the Ark.
Professionals built the Titanic!


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"Rod Mollise" wrote in message
...
Cant wait for all the good deals when people get bored, after a few looks
thru
the scope...

HI Chas:

Jesus...talk about cynical! What we need to do is make sure these people,
or at
least some of 'em _don't_ get bored! They'll be showing up at our clubs,
let's
make sure they are welcome and that they get the help they need.

Peace,
Rod Mollise

In article ,
(Rod Mollise) wrote:

Jesus...talk about cynical! What we need to do is make sure these people, or
at
least some of 'em _don't_ get bored! They'll be showing up at our clubs,
let's
make sure they are welcome and that they get the help they need.



I agree. If I'm lucky I'll be able to show some kid how to use his/her
new scope.

Best Regards,
Rich

In article ,
(Rod Mollise) wrote:

Jesus...talk about cynical! What we need to do is make sure these people, or
at
least some of 'em _don't_ get bored! They'll be showing up at our clubs,
let's
make sure they are welcome and that they get the help they need.



I agree. If I'm lucky I'll be able to show some kid how to use his/her
new scope.

Best Regards,
Rich

May be a lot of used eqmt on the market at good prices in a couple of
months.

Myriadimage wrote:
This from USA Today: Telescope sales "are off the charts," says Jim Sinegal,
president and CEO of Costco warehouse stores. He said the entire stock of
telescopes sold out on Monday in a few hours.

The same thing happened at Discovery Channel stores.

"This is how they (customers) usually start: 'I want to see Mars. What do I
need to do to do that,' " says Eric Wilcox, associate manager of a Discovery
store in Albany, N.Y. Telescopes selling for $300 to $1,000 were gone by early
this week.

"We're getting all different kinds of people," Wilcox says. "It's even people
that wouldn't normally look at a telescope, because they couldn't afford one
are coming in here to buy."

May be a lot of used eqmt on the market at good prices in a couple of
months.

Myriadimage wrote:
This from USA Today: Telescope sales "are off the charts," says Jim Sinegal,
president and CEO of Costco warehouse stores. He said the entire stock of
telescopes sold out on Monday in a few hours.

The same thing happened at Discovery Channel stores.

"This is how they (customers) usually start: 'I want to see Mars. What do I
need to do to do that,' " says Eric Wilcox, associate manager of a Discovery
store in Albany, N.Y. Telescopes selling for $300 to $1,000 were gone by early
this week.

"We're getting all different kinds of people," Wilcox says. "It's even people
that wouldn't normally look at a telescope, because they couldn't afford one
are coming in here to buy."

So many people buying scopes that don't know anything about scopes
or Astronomy, and possibly acting on advice from someone that knows
as little as they do.

And it extends to another thing. I've noticed the quite expected
behavior of people lining up for hours behind an 11-inch refractor
while a smaller refractor and a C-14 stand with a minimal wait time and
at the same magnification. Even when told of this, and that the view is
identical in those scopes, people don't want to listen.

But Rod Mollise is right; we can generate new members and friends
into our hobby if we act quickly and thoughtfully. Perhaps instead of
reacting to the laypublic, we need to proactively act to bring more
of them into our wonderful hobby.

--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Never be afraid of trying something new for the love of it.
Remember... amateurs built the Ark.
Professionals built the Titanic!


----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Richard DeLuca" wrote in message
news
In article ,
(Myriadimage) wrote:

SNIP_

"This is how they (customers) usually start: 'I want to see Mars. What
do I
need to do to do that,' " says Eric Wilcox, associate manager of a
Discovery
store in Albany, N.Y. Telescopes selling for $300 to $1,000 were gone by
early
this week.

"We're getting all different kinds of people," Wilcox says. "It's even
people
that wouldn't normally look at a telescope, because they couldn't afford
one
are coming in here to buy."



It's a mixed bag. I feel sorry for anyone who went out on a limb to buy
a scope for themselves or a child. Most will be very disappointed at
what they see (or don't see).

So many people buying scopes that don't know anything about scopes
or Astronomy, and possibly acting on advice from someone that knows
as little as they do.

And it extends to another thing. I've noticed the quite expected
behavior of people lining up for hours behind an 11-inch refractor
while a smaller refractor and a C-14 stand with a minimal wait time and
at the same magnification. Even when told of this, and that the view is
identical in those scopes, people don't want to listen.

But Rod Mollise is right; we can generate new members and friends
into our hobby if we act quickly and thoughtfully. Perhaps instead of
reacting to the laypublic, we need to proactively act to bring more
of them into our wonderful hobby.

--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Never be afraid of trying something new for the love of it.
Remember... amateurs built the Ark.
Professionals built the Titanic!


----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Richard DeLuca" wrote in message
news
In article ,
(Myriadimage) wrote:

SNIP_

"This is how they (customers) usually start: 'I want to see Mars. What
do I
need to do to do that,' " says Eric Wilcox, associate manager of a
Discovery
store in Albany, N.Y. Telescopes selling for $300 to $1,000 were gone by
early
this week.

"We're getting all different kinds of people," Wilcox says. "It's even
people
that wouldn't normally look at a telescope, because they couldn't afford
one
are coming in here to buy."



It's a mixed bag. I feel sorry for anyone who went out on a limb to buy
a scope for themselves or a child. Most will be very disappointed at
what they see (or don't see).

If the details are ever published, we'll see that the vast majority of
these scopes that have been sold in the last few weeks are of the
department store variety, and the folks who bought them without making any
effort to make the right choice, or to buy quality, will soon be bitching
because they couldn't see anything with them, and then they'll be trying
to sell them and be ****ed at the rest of us, when reality is they are
suffering from self-inflicted wounds...

--
To reply, remove the "z" if one appears in my address
"Myriadimage" wrote in message
...
This from USA Today: Telescope sales "are off the charts," says Jim
Sinegal,
president and CEO of Costco warehouse stores. He said the entire stock
of
telescopes sold out on Monday in a few hours.

The same thing happened at Discovery Channel stores.

"This is how they (customers) usually start: 'I want to see Mars. What
do I
need to do to do that,' " says Eric Wilcox, associate manager of a
Discovery
store in Albany, N.Y. Telescopes selling for $300 to $1,000 were gone by
early
this week.

"We're getting all different kinds of people," Wilcox says. "It's even
people
that wouldn't normally look at a telescope, because they couldn't afford
one
are coming in here to buy."

If the details are ever published, we'll see that the vast majority of
these scopes that have been sold in the last few weeks are of the
department store variety, and the folks who bought them without making any
effort to make the right choice, or to buy quality, will soon be bitching
because they couldn't see anything with them, and then they'll be trying
to sell them and be ****ed at the rest of us, when reality is they are
suffering from self-inflicted wounds...

--
To reply, remove the "z" if one appears in my address
"Myriadimage" wrote in message
...
This from USA Today: Telescope sales "are off the charts," says Jim
Sinegal,
president and CEO of Costco warehouse stores. He said the entire stock
of
telescopes sold out on Monday in a few hours.

The same thing happened at Discovery Channel stores.

"This is how they (customers) usually start: 'I want to see Mars. What
do I
need to do to do that,' " says Eric Wilcox, associate manager of a
Discovery
store in Albany, N.Y. Telescopes selling for $300 to $1,000 were gone by
early
this week.

"We're getting all different kinds of people," Wilcox says. "It's even
people
that wouldn't normally look at a telescope, because they couldn't afford
one
are coming in here to buy."

I saw this myself, at my first star party.

my partner and I took our 127 mak to a small local school's mars-viewing
party. there were a handful of 'scopes there, from a pair of binoculars on a
tripod to a nextar11 to the resident scopezilla, a handbuilt 8" refractor in
an enormous wooden tube. the n11 had the aperature advantage (my partner
said he couldn't approach the eyepiece without pain from the light pouring
out), but otherwise our mak had probably the most visually pelasing image,
and certainly the most readily identifiable surface features. but while we
took the opportunity to look through the variety of instruments there, maybe
five people came to take a look through the little blue mak.

we had the opportunity to explain a great deal to the few who did show,
though, and met a fun older gentleman who proudly discussed his new hobby --
cosmology (I was suitably impressed since it's my new hobby too).

"David Nakamoto" wrote in message
...
And it extends to another thing. I've noticed the quite expected
behavior of people lining up for hours behind an 11-inch refractor
while a smaller refractor and a C-14 stand with a minimal wait time and
at the same magnification. Even when told of this, and that the view is
identical in those scopes, people don't want to listen.