LeapfrogI read an article in Wired magazine in February, 2006. It was an article about GM and hybrids and fuel cells. GM planned to go directly from gasoline engines to fuel cell engines, skipping the hybrids. I think that their philosophy applies to lots of engineering problems, and a quote from auto industry consultant Maryann Keller defines what I mean:

What technology doesn’t become cheaper and easier to build over time? The personal computer weighed 50 pounds in the early 1980s. Hybrids are complex and expensive, but you’ll never figure out how to make them better and cheaper until you put the technology in real-world cars. I say, ‘Why wait? What do you have to sell me today?’

If you have enough capital to sustain you, why not leapfrog the technology and put advanced technology into real-world products?