> I figure big companies probably do the same. Yup. Sometimes it's a Manhattan-project-esque "try every approach and we'll run with the one(s) that work the be

> I figure big companies probably do the same. Yup. Sometimes it's a Manhattan-project-esque "try every approach and we'll run with the one(s) that work the best" (this was the philosophy behind methods for enriching fissile materials during the war). Sometimes it boils down to organizational ineptitude, especially a lack of situational awareness such that the project becomes, in military terms, overtaken by events. Note that sometimes things run the other way, where inertia keeps a project going when the hard decision to pull the plug should have been made long ago.