Look at it another way: what's the utility of not seeing the stories change in real time? What added benefit does pressing the refresh button give you?

If you're worried stories would change too fast, that's something that can be tweaked through the algorithm or the UI. In fact I spent a lot of time making sure the UI for new comments didn't disrupt the flow of the page.

Basically, what I'm saying is don't dismiss Telescope just because it doesn't work like what you're used to, and please keep an open mind :)