Its a different mind set. You see it here with other pets as well. Some people spoil and pamper their dogs and treat them like children. Others are still of the mind set that a dog is an animal and that keeping it outdoors 24/7/365 with a little peaked roof house is perfectly logical and acceptable. Fish are seen as cheap easy pets, if they die, no big whoop, we'll buy more. Theyre not furry so they don't need to be treated like a furry pet, etc, etc. But times, and mind set are changing. But its a slow process. With each generation those ideas are changing. People are seeing pet animals, all animals, as part of the family. They are recognizing that because these animals are domesticated, that we as humans, as their keepers, are fully responsible for them, they can't fend for themselves. But you're dealing with not just generational mindsets, but also cultural. This person who makes these tanks probably did her research when she first started with bettas. She went by what is done where the fish come from. She figured if it works for them, why not. Problem is, she is taking their "wild conditions" and applying it to tank raised creatures. They don't HAVE to try to exist (I say exist, not live, there is a difference) in the conditions their wild counterparts do, and being tank bred and raised, they are generations away from their wild counterparts and therefore maybe not as suited to enduring the same conditions. They NEED to be babied more.
While her tanks are a neat idea in theory, they are just too small. By her defensive reply, deep down, she feels the same way. But that mindset, and the almighty dollar, is keeping her from changing her mind and her methods.....
/groups.msn.com/BayBettas/_whatsnew.msnw
And since I've seen a typical reply, I can tell him/her exactly how bettas live in the wild, how expensive her stuff is etc. etc. And a couple of goldfish???!?!?!?! WTF?!?!?! 
