My opinion is this,
The S.E. should stand on it's own as a "could've been" treat for all the fans.
It should never have been something to base a whole new set of changes on. If Lucas wanted to "fix" the Trilogy, he should have allowed those who worked on them originally to make use of the new technology and find a way to incorporate those creations back in replacing the original elements that might need fixing/updating....this way, it would have enabled a better transition between the look and feel of the Prequel Trilogy and the Original Trilogy.
Doing this would also have allowed all those people whose hard work got butchered the opportunity to keep the respect that was taken from them and their creations and George Lucas could have kept his credibility as the guy who stood up against bastardizing film history.
The S.E. is a great concept and it's execution was in poor form as others have already stated. The Original Trilogy is what I grew up on....saw it at the Drive-in even. It changed the way I looked at Sci-Fi and the evolving world around me. It is sorely missed.
I am honored to live in an age where the fans have proudly accepted guardianship of something precious that was left for dead by it's own creator.
Cheers to these Star Wars fans, anywhere and everywhere you are, you rock!!!!