I think 'despised' is too strong a word. I for one, am not a spotter, although I enjoy watching aircraft - otherwise i wouldn't have started flying them. But I must say that I am a little 'perplexed' by the whole spotting hobby, registrations and all. I think it is a peculiarly British thing.
To give an example, recently I was early for work and couldn't be bothered going straight to the crew-room, so I drove up to the local spotter zone. Like everyone else, I hopped out of the car to watch an oncoming jet fly directly overhead in gusty and demanding conditions. There were a couple of spotters nearby. I was surprised to see them jump back in their cars and start scribbling down the registration (I assume) as soon as the a/c went overhead. I for one, was interested in the crosswind landing, but these guys didn't even look up at the critical moment. So I must assume that, in their case at least, collecting the registration was more interesting than the aircraft, the mechanics of flight or the skill or otherwise of the pilot. Strange.
Having said that, I recently flew with a new First Officer and was amazed by his lack of knowledge of aircraft types. Within the space of 10 minutes he asked me what type a jetstream 41 in front of us was (not necessarily a sin) and then asked me whether a 737-300 was a 757! I am increasingly worried that Daddys are putting their sons and daughters through the likes of Oxford simply to get them into a career. What happened to the kids who loved to watch aircraft, became addicted to the smell of kero, scrimped and saved their way into a cockpit and finally landed a flying job. The real enthusiasts. Don't seem to see many of them around the place these days, at least not airside of the fence!
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