1) 50% of everything you want to see will be ruined by clouds (actual percentage varies by location);
2) 99% of things in the sky are underwhelming to the non-astronomy nerd.
I think this is due to a combination of at least these factors:
a) astronomy magazines and media showing impossible to achieve images (long exposures, multiple nights even, with pro equipment, etc.) that look like a small grey smudge thru a hobby-level scope, even the biggest and best of them.
b) many a non-nerd will think what we nerds consider awesome is pointless and underwhelming. And that’s OK.
c) in a world with unlimited TV streaming, tablets, mobile, Nintendo Switch, PS5s and the like, the sky is a very poor competitor. A century ago the sky was the Biggest Show on Earth; now many can’t even see it. This is not some sort of old man yells at clouds rant, it’s just a truth. I happen to like video games.
I think is this a category error, like the difference between The Woodwrigth’s Shop vs The New Yankee Workshop on PBS back in the day. Or simpler, “one man’s garbage is another man’s treasure”.
