"Releasing their product this way would guarantee EOS the ability to publish meaningful updates often, and will keep people engaged for the entirety of the EOS development process (and it’s ICO)"

Hmmmmm... having an entire pipeline of updates already well in hand, from the get-go, as a marketing strategy. Never even thought of that as a possibility, but it makes perfect sense.

"I tend to invest in products that are at their early stages, but display a working product (like Novusphere. Follow @deanpress for a post about that soon!). This way I can make rational decisions based on my own user experience"

Sage strategy. Even if something has a great set of features, that means little to nothing if they don't end up meeting the needs of your own intended application...