In an environment such as ours where we are frequently pushing the envelope,
I can't see the benefit of limiting discussion. There are simply too many
people that need help understanding what's out there, let alone where we need
to go. I have always felt that we were in partnership with the vendors and
together we have driven the technique and the science. Witness the discussions
on objective lenses we had back in '89. If we didn't push that, it might have
taken twice as long to see some of these optics come around. If there is  a
question about relative capabilities, there have been plenty of times when we
were wrong and said ridiculous things. We are not the best at representing
this stuff, and if we are, or have some brand loyalty, we have to feel guilty
about it and file disclaimers. It's just my $.02 and I will obviously  defer
to our netters who feel insulted to hear Blair and John (for example) discuss
their products on the net, but especially in low net_volume seasons I feel no
ill feelings to those who have done as much as anyone to drive the science and
will listen to them eagerly.
 
                            BJ