If Lucas had kept the Special Editions as "Special Editions" (just as the name implies) - and had them as bonuses on the DVDs / Bluray sets along with the nice, cleaned, up 16x9, digitally restored versions of the Original Theatrical cuts, ... then no, I don't think people would have been so up in arms over them. They just would've been a "hey, that's a neat feature to have an alternate version of the films included." But, since he didn't do that, I can see why I, and many, many other folks are upset, cause the SE's freaking SUCK!

I remember when Lucasfilm was finally going to release the OT on DVD for the first time back in like 1998/99. I pre-ordered them, went to the store to pick them up and was so excited when I popped them in my DVD player ... only to learn a few moments later that the crummy SE's were the only things on the discs. :( I returned them about an hour later. That's false advertising if I've ever seen it.

Thank God for Harmy and the Despecialized Editions is all I can say.