You don’t need to have seen what happened to the Sinclair C5 to appreciate that anything labelled ‘the next big thing’ can sometimes face a hard road.
No roof, frighteningly small - Sir Clive Sinclair’s one-person battery electric recumbent tricycle (some called it a car) never looked totally certain of being an unqualified success. The one this reporter spotted was on Leckwith roundabout in Cardiff circa 1988. The weather was terrible and the chap driving it was not only having a good soaking but also looked terrified as lorries sped past with spray hitting the poor man in the face.
Presumably, he made it home, parked it in his garage and threw the ignition key as far away as it could fly.
For sure, it can be a testing journey from development to becoming a winning product.
Of course, it’s the same in sport.
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Keelan Giles knows all about it.
Six years ago, he was being hailed pretty much by one and all. He had marked his debut season for the Ospreys with 14 tries in 19 games, some of the touchdowns special efforts; he had been called out to New Zealand by Wales at the age of 18; he had even made the final three for BBC’s Young Sports Personality of the Year award.
But scripts can go wrong, and Giles’ did.
Two awful knee injuries effectively checked his progress for three seasons.
Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong, short of the diminutive wing being abducted by aliens from another planet.
But, to his credit, he never gave up.
Even before his first orthopaedic setback, at a time, when the headlines had started to dry up and Wales hadn’t capped him despite including him on a tour to the southern hemisphere in 2017, he remained upbeat, citing the example of Shane Williams as an inspiration.
“It took Shane a few years, didn’t it?” he said.
“He had a shot at Wales when he was young and had to bide his time.
“If somebody asked me a year or two ago, would I like the position I’m in now, I’d have bitten their arm off. It’s all come quickly and I just have to keep working hard.
“If a Wales cap comes, it comes; if it doesn’t, I’ll keep on training harder.
“My main thing is to keep my feet on the ground and stay humble.”
We call that a fairly ground outlook for a player who was only 19 at the time.
Anyway, he stayed patient and there were clear signs towards the end of last season the Giles was returning to his best, with the Ospreys having helped him along the road at the right pace, not expecting too much too soon as he edged towards game fitness.
And Giles has looked in mint condition in the early rounds of this term’s BKT United Rugby Championship, not only scoring twice against the Lions last time out but also setting one up and looking dangerous pretty every time he had the ball.
Ahead of Saturday’s afternoon home encounter with Glasgow Warriors, Ospreys head coach Toby Booth took time out to offer a nod to the now 24-year-old wideman.
“How good was he last week?” said Booth.
“He was unplayable at times, which was fantastic. From our point of view, he’s got better and better.
“He can now stay out there for 80 minutes. Previously he was back for a bit, but you were always worried enough to make plans for him around the 50-minute mark [to replace him]. Now he has the endurance as well as the health side of it.
“As a result you are seeing a player who’s confident and influencing games.
“His two tries last week were a great reflection of that.”
Experience will mean that Giles won’t be getting carried away.
He will understand what an old Australia coach was talking about when he once spoke about “a rooster today, a feather duster tomorrow”.
Sport can be full of uncertainties, and nothing is guaranteed.
But if anyone deserves a run of good fortune it’s Giles.
Few are talking about him as a player to potentially interest Wayne Pivac in the short term.
He won't worry too much about that.
But, just maybe, things are looking up again.
And that will do just fine for someone who's endured so many setbacks.
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