I hate to see lawsuits in a marginal industry. I didn't like the Meade vs. Celestron lawsuit and this one is ridiculous. The only reasons a high-end knowledgeable buyer would go with Meade over Star or RC Systems is because they either thought Meade was better optically or it was a cost-benefit tradeoff. The reason they are losing business is that there is another alternative to the expensive Ritchey-Chretien systems that still produces good off-axis performance. You notice they have gone for a jury trial in New York. Unfortunately most juries are unsophisticated and according to my brother, who is a trial attorney, the party with the weakest argument usually wants a jury trial since "you never know what a jury will decide." -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces+djcolton=piol.com@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces+djcolton=piol.com@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Jon Christensen Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 1:15 AM To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Subject: RE: [Utah-astronomy] Fed action re: Meade and others (long)
From: Patrick Wiggins <paw@wirelessbeehive.com>
For those who might be interested in the dustup these scopes have caused, here's are a few pages of the 70 page (!) complaint.
PLEASE, if anyone replies to this please delete all of the text below except for any specific portion you wish to comment on.
I'd like to hear from any of our resident optics experts what they think about the merits of the action.
pw
Well, I am hardly an expert, but I love this quote: "48. The market for Ritchey-Chretien telescopes is a niche market, to which Star Instruments and RC Optical are the main sources of supply. Defendants' scheme threatens to destroy that niche market and the businesses of Star and RC Optical." I am fairly certain, having seen the prices of a genuine RC telescope, that anyone in thier "Niche market" knows full well that the Meades are not a true RC. ~Jon C. _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com