I don't see why I care that naive observers can't tell the difference between Kepler and Ptolemy - just like I don't care that a naive observer can't tell the difference between Newton and Einstein.

It is possible that I interpreted "Because my impression was that "Copernicus is better than Ptolemy" pays rent pretty much immediately" badly but I guess I didn't see months of observation using telescopes would be what I would normally call "pretty much immediately" then. But this may be just an issue of timespan and equipment that is called to mind for "immediate".