> I guess I should have applied for a grant.

But you didn't.

Echoing the sentiment from many of the replies, it's easy to arm-chair quarterback and criticize others' work (and moreover, the existence of the work itself) as intuitively obvious, and therefore lacking value.

Besides the fact that it has value to someone (therefore the grant award), the devil's in the details, and a grant like this isn't just for the idea, but also for development and productionizing.

But, going back to your point... if you think you can do better, than by all means do so. Seems like sour grapes that someone else is capitalizing on something that is intuitively obvious to you.