Department Store Telescopes Are Great!

On Wed, 23 Mar 2016 13:27:47 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

I have little doubt that such products
have turned vastly more people away from astronomy than they ever
created.

Incorrect. If one's level of interest is low to begin with, the best scope in the world won't help. If one's interest high to begin with, a poor scope will not ruin that interest.

It's so useful to have you here, the poster child for the modern,
ignorant, uneducated, conservative American. Who better to bounce
things from and test for reactions? Who better to illustrate the
magnitude of the problem?

On Wednesday, March 23, 2016 at 4:37:34 PM UTC-4, Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Wed, 23 Mar 2016 13:27:47 -0700 (PDT), wsnell01 wrote:

I have little doubt that such products
have turned vastly more people away from astronomy than they ever
created.

Incorrect. If one's level of interest is low to begin with, the best scope in the world won't help. If one's interest high to begin with, a poor scope will not ruin that interest.

It's so useful to have you here, the poster child for the modern,
ignorant, uneducated, conservative American. Who better to bounce
things from and test for reactions? Who better to illustrate the
magnitude of the problem?

One only has to see how -uninterested- an amateur astronomer's family members, neighbors and friends can be in astronomy despite the presence of perhaps multiple "real" telescopes in the vicinity, not to mention books, magazines and software nearby. S&T even had an editorial about it a few years back.

Your pathetic attempts at insulting me only make YOU look foolish, peterson..