No kiddin', I was thinking that Olympus would eventually have to pack up its tent and move on. If I've been skeptical of APS-C, I've been down-right moribund about Olympus' future.
Yes, "time" is the great equalizer.
The trouble with Olympus at the moment is that they haven't got the best sensor manufacturer - the Kodak sensor in the earlier cameras were lovely - the E1 especially had a lovely glow and delicious colours - but like all kodak sensors their high ISO noise was bad - now they are using panasonic sensors, which are okay, what they really need is a great sensor.
The design idea is excellent - the wide lens mount throat and the small sensor means that the lens design can be maximised (niether Nikon or Canon can do this so well, even on APS). The upshot of this is that the Olympus lenses are, almost without exception, absolutely excellent - for instance, when I compared the 12-60 (24-120) Zuiko with the new, much heralded Nikon 24-70, the Zuiko won hands down in terms of corner sharpness and vignetting - and it's half the price and half the size. Even the tiny 14-42 (28-85 equiv) is really good, and the f2 zooms are stellar (and expensive too).
when you consider that the pixel density on the Olympus E3 is 4, and on the Canon 450D is 3.7 (and the Canon G9 is 28), you can see that there is scope for an improved sensor.
Basically - you're setting YOUR 'compromises' at or around where FF is now - fine (I think that's where I sit too), and I think that'll trickle down a long way over the next few years, but other people will have very different preferences. I have some lovely 24x17" prints made from the Olympus E3: for most people that's at least twice as big as they're ever going to print . . . . what on earth is the attraction of paying all that extra money to carry around something huge . . . if it really doesn't confer any benefits.
Five or ten years from now, one of us is going to be saying "I told you so!" :lecture:
Nah - in five or ten years time everyone will have forgotten about still cameras, they'll be using video's which will do 24mp still shots wherever you want