ABSTRACT
It is the absence of a professional counterpart that most clearly distinguishes hobbyists from amateurs. Nevertheless, looking solely at the former, this lack should never be misunderstood as a mark of inferiority, simplicity, or triviality. A hobby is a systematic, enduring pursuit of a reasonably evolved and specialized free-time activity having no professional counterpart. Such leisure leads to the acquisition of substantial skill, knowledge or experience or a combination of these. Although hobbyists differ from amateurs in that they lack a professional reference point, they sometimes have commercial equivalents and often have small publics who take an interest in what they do.
