There is value in different ways of doing things

There are different ways of improving and innovating.
When I think up new ways of doing things or different approaches, it isn't always about  making more precise measurements, or faster measurements. It is often how to do something that can already be done, just how to do it differently. There is a tendency  in the world of physics to only consider the importance of a scientific innovation in terms of how it enables us to do things better than we already can. After all what would be the point of making a new way to measure something that is worse than the best we can already do? Well often there is value in being able to measure something with 10 times less acurracy if you can do 50 times cheaper. This is something engineers have to think about when they are designing a product. Often small changes in cost can have a big impact. So my plea to the wider physics world is not to dismiss as irrelevant different approaches just becasue we can already do something.
For instance I have developed a method for measuring the refractive index of a liquid inside a bottle, without opening the bottle. It is not the most accurate method ever invented , it is nowhere near as accurate as sampling the liquid and measuring the refractive index with a refractometer. But it could monitor coarse changes such as temperature dependence, or it could give you an idea  as to the contents of the bottle, even if the liquid is opaque. The technique is extremely cheap, but because it is not challenging very accurate methods no one quite sees the point. This is applied science, discovered by accident, but it perhaps a solution looking for a problem. Its not the sort of science thats taken seriously, because its not sexy, or particularly deep. Its also not expensive  and it seems that unless there is a big grant in it, then its not worth thinking about.