We do this a lot. CCD image sensors are inherently more suited to astrophotography, but so much development has been put into CMOS that it is catching up to (an

We do this a lot. CCD image sensors are inherently more suited to astrophotography, but so much development has been put into CMOS that it is catching up to (and may surpass) CCD. A single widespread technology, with more applications & development effort, surpasses a better but more niche technology. It's an interesting phenomenon. In the case of batteries, I wonder if we fully account for all the costs though. Lead-acid, for example, is a very sustainable (long-lasting, highly recyclable) battery technology that is inherently suitable, but if the full mining/recycling/disposal costs of lithium-ion are not priced in, the market won't account for this.