I think you are all being a bit harsh on it. Not sure how you can tell whether its any good just from a picture.
Put a picture of a Gardiners pole up against a similar pole and you would not be a able to tell a great deal of difference yet we know they are better than most.
I can see some interesting ideas on the unger pole and if they work then great.
The reason we are all working with good equipment now is down to people like this constantly trying new things and attempting to improve what we have.
If no one did this I would still be using my 7 foot long,(closed) half ton Omnipole I bought in 2004.