Regarding the balance between waiting for an optimum design and going
ahead now, see Freeman Dyson's two essays:
"Quick is beautiful" -- he recommends you go ahead and sell what to have now.
"Little red schoolhouse" -- he recommends you wait until the design
is improved.
Of course it depends upon the product and the situation. The latter
essay describes the development of commercial nuclear fission
reactors, including conventional US ones, the CANDU design, and so
on. Dyson participated in some of this design work himself. He feels
that if the scientists had been given a few more years to play around
before committing to the conventional US fission reactor design,
fusion power would be cheaper, safer and more reliable.
- Jed
