it's a 'strike price' R&D programme. work on expensive stuff _now_ on the assumption that it will be cheap/mainstream in x years. if you waited for it to be cheap enough before you start, you'll be outgunned by the crew that started 6 months before you did. that's iterative of course, how far back you go is the decision that counts. someone once said "10x faster isn't just faster - it's different". i like that metaphor, in CS you might throw away processor cycles for the GUI at a time when everyone else is optimising the metal for a text inteface to eke out a millisecond or two...