There's a big difference here: they're both experiments, one that's already over and failed, the other that's ongoing. We have the power of hindsight with one,

There's a big difference here: they're both experiments, one that's already over and failed, the other that's ongoing. We have the power of hindsight with one, the other is still actively being explored. We may find one day soon that it was also a failed experiment and bad idea, but we aren't there yet.