"Innovation" in outdoor gear...Never mind the Bollocks....

I DO NOT intend to do a whole lot of gear reviews here, I see the same thing over and over again and it would be SO damn redundant having gear tests end with "...Overall, the minor benefits don't solve a(the) problem..."  This little article by Ryan  Jordan of Backpacking Light magazine details what innovation REALLY is- and what it isn't... and why-perhaps, the bar should be set a tad higher in the outdoor industry before applying superlatives to ( at best) marginally "improved" gear...Frankly I won't be impressed until both my Baby( who is enthusiastic, yet unfamiliar with the minutiae of outdoorsperson-ship) and my Pal Jimmy ( who, though having plenty of early life experience in the wild, has been permanently scarred- and SCARED, by a continuous parade of outdoors gear that CANNOT live up to their hyperbole its advertised under, leaving him stranded, and endangered too often to believe that there IS such a thing as a "good or great" piece of gear...), can both head down to a local outfitter and easily and  reliably  get into a setup that keeps them warm, dry, and fed, without UNDUE( as we know being out involves risk..) concern that the equipment will work as expected, and when used within the envelope of reasonable expectation ...We arent there yet...some will argue that better gear isn't needed , more knowledgeable  users are...I call bullshit. If the stuff  DID what the industry claimed, we wouldn't have to have this discussion at all,  as much as I have seen gear improve in the last thirty years, the proof is in the double headlamped, goretex-ised freeze dried pudding....