Ever since we've had government budgets in this country, there have been efforts by well-intended reformers to more efficiently spend the public's money. One of the more recent efforts is called "Lowest Price Technology Acceptable (LPTA), a standard by which the lowest cost technology or item that meets the government's needs generally wins the contract at hand. While being frugal is generally laudable, there is a slight problem with this strategy--"technically acceptable" is not adequately defined. At the end of the day, the lowest priced option does not always turn out to be the least costly product or service available.
