Wow. Bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch.
I haven't seem so much whining and complaining about a company working to develop different technology. For the Sony lovers, it's "oh, they don't have the DR." For the Canon critics, it's "oh, well they announced 50MP in 2007. Or was it 2008? Maybe it was 1946?"
The fact that Canon has working models of cameras with a 250MP sensor, and another than has a sensor that goes to 4,000,000 ISO simply means they aren't asleep at the wheel. They are pushing technology in areas no one else has (hello? Sony? Nikon... oh that's right. They don't actually produce their sensors), or at least has mentioned. People seem to forget that part of R&D is to produce things that may not see the light of day as a consumer item, but often paves the way for other technology that is used. I think in the recent past Canon has been cautious -- both with development and announcements of what they're working on. Now that they have awoken from their somnambulant existence, you would think people would be glad that a major technology company is striving to develop new technology.
Since we're taking steps back in time, I remember when people thought a 6MP sensor was the pinnacle of 35mm based DSLRs, and that it was equal to 35mm film. I also seem to remember people saying, "Oh, we'll never use the capacity of a 1TB drive. We really don't need it." There was a time when 40MB drives seemed huge.
For those who wish to grouse about technological advancement, I have a bag phone I'd really love to sell you.