The problem is when opinions and personal experience turn into something other than that. I appreciate your point about the focus on equipment rather than results and I also taught for many years, though not photography and in the 16-19 age group.
The whole point of my piece was questioning why looking at images to assess for quality is treated with what is sometimes close to contempt by certain sections of photographic forums. My focus was not whether its something that should be discouraged or encouraged but why "pixel-peeping" attracts such hostility.
I imagine with your experience that would have been an element of what you did. I'm not saying its the most important element in image creation, and I'm not saying it takes precedence over composition, inspiration etc. What I am saying is that if people feel it important, for whatever reason, it shouldn't be dismissed as irrelevant.
At some point in everything creative, there comes a time when we have to assess whther our methods of creation are "up to the job". I think its probably true that the better we get at something the more demanding we become of the equipment we use. I agree with you that it certainly shouldn't be the first or prime consideration, but it can be a factor in determining both creative and career success, and while I'm sure its not true in every case, I can't see that a determination to present work in the best way possible ever held anyone back.
I didn't say you weren't qualified to have an opinion, you obviously are, my point was that you didn't present it as an opinion, but as a statement of fact. If you had included some of what you've written here then I think it would have moved the debate on.
Its good however that you've shared it now and your phrase
"the biggest issue I have is students being more focussed on the gear and the software than the task at hand." is a very telling one and one I would certainly agree with from my own experience. As you and I will have observed, it is often very difficult for students, at an early stage in the learning process, to differentiate quality work from quality equipment. There's no easy answer to that, and the only solution I found was to use examples.
As to being sucked into the conversation again, yes I've been here before too. However just as saying you can only create quality work with quality gear is a myth, saying the opposite, i.e. that quality gear has no bearing on the result is also, I believe, a myth. And I also believe that its important to emphasise the importance of creating the best result we can with what we have available, and indeed what we can afford. In many ways asssesing what the results are and how we could improve them is an important element in the process of getting the best out of ourselves and our equipment. I certainly felt the years I spent working with equipment that was inferior in almost all respects to what I can afford and use now, stood me in good stead to take proper and meaningful advantage of what I am now able to use.
Its an important debate I feel, and I felt it worth the trouble of bringing it up again. I certainly never imagined I'd get an easy ride and I certainly haven't had that. But its obvious people in this forum care about what they do and think about it too. We can't really ask for more than that.
I apologize if you felt I was lecturing or sermonizing. That was certainly not my intent. I have spent the past several years teaching video, print design and production at a small university and the biggest issue I have is students being more focussed on the gear and the software than the task at hand.
As far as writing about what I know...before teaching I spent 20 years working in digital imaging (from print to video). I should think some of that would be applicable. I am not a professional photographer. I did spend 3 years as a product photographer and 17 years in print and interactive media design (buying images from photographers such as yourself was part of my day) so I do have opinions about image quality because I made the buying decisions to spend money on stock photography. In the end I was the one answerable to the client for quality. If you don't think that qualifies me to have an opinion then so be it. My opinion is not a universal truth. It may only apply to my small circle but is MY opinion. I can apologize for the way I worded it but not for holding it.
As far as this conversation...it has been going on for years in many forms and I honestly don't know why I bothered to be sucked into it again.