Sure, this sucks. I guess the counterargument is that then, given that the new API in Chrome is an improvement over the standard, waiting for this API to be act

Sure, this sucks. I guess the counterargument is that then, given that the new API in Chrome is an improvement over the standard, waiting for this API to be actually accepted and written into the spec is a long, arduous process during which Chrome is unable to implement an objective improvement to their user experience. My concern is basically that if we force browsers to be spec-compliant and wait for the due process concerning new features, we pump the brakes on everything, and we risk stalling genuinely beneficial updates.