You will not replace your 10 or 12 in miter saw with this one but you will find a ton of uses for it. I have had one now for 3 or 4 weeks and have used the hell out of it.
Way to go Fletcher awesome stuff. This is a great way to pass some skills on the the younger generation. Most kids these days don't know what end of a hammer to hold. Shot me a pm I know I have have some stuff you can pass on.
Frank does some cool stuff. The 360 video is cool and when you hear him talking you sometimes have to pan around to find him. Here is a video he did for brain pick.
I don't know about the government paying for the modification or his boss but Case, Hyundai, Cat,Volvo,and Hitachi to name a few have been building these things for years. they call them long reach or elevated cabs.
I picked up the DeWalt 18V miter saw the other day and it is so handy. I sat it on the floor next to me and ran base and shoe and never had to get up. knocked that room out in no time. it had plenty of power and it made nice clean cuts.