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It's a neat idea, but it's a shame that such a thing is necessary for some observers. Until we can get light pollution laws with teeth here in the US, desperate observers will have to rely on light amplification gadgets.

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There would have to be no lights anywhere to darken the skies enough to compare with the BIPH. We'd be back to the pitch-darkness of the 17th century, dark enough so that in downtown Seville Count Almaviva can mistake his wife for the serving-maid Susanna (Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro", Act IV). But if it were that dark, I'd never able to find the bloody focus knob on my scope much less anther eyepiece.

Like everything in our hobby, the BIPH can't do it all. It's better for some objects than others. It's monochromatic, which may or may not bother you. There's scintillation to a greater or lesser degree, which may or may not bother you. There are a few black spots on every tube, which may or may not bother you. It's expensive, which may or may not bother you. On the other hand, it triples your aperture and allows you to see things you've never seen before. The last time I saw the North American Nebula was with 7x50 binos from 9,000 feet in the pitch-black Colorado Rockies; Doug showed it to me from his driveway in suburban Westchester (maybe 150 feet above sea level and 35 miles north of Times Square) on a very hazy, very humid night, with a H-alpha filter in front of the cheapie 105 mm C-mount lens on the BIPH. It's hard not to be a believer. And the thought of it on a 30" scope!

I figure the conversation will probably go like this:

LARRY: I ordered a BIPH.
ELYSE: You're spending 4 grand on ANOTHER telescope thing?
LARRY: No, I'm saving $50,000 by not buying a 20" Meade.
ELYSE: Come on, that's not really saving. You're still spending $4 grand.
LARRY: But when you bought your mink coat you explained that you actually hadn't spent money, you saved thousands because of the discount.
ELYSE: [Glaring]
LARRY: [Reminder to self: buy some jewelry for her, too.]

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C5 Orange Tube SCT
Orion 127 Mak
SV Nighthawk (1st generation)
CPC 800 XLT SCT
Coronado Maxscope 40
5 1/4" f/5.2 home-built Newtonian
Denk II Binos
Giro 2/Tech2000 Giro Driver/Tech2000 QuickDraw Pier
A zillion eyepieces and some more mounts
Mason & Hamlin BB 214 cm (piano)
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