Oddly enough, I recently ran across a CFL bulb, that was dimmible, even with an old X-10 lamp module. I don't believe that was government mandated, the consumers were screaming for it.
Look, I'm all for standards, but I would rather the electronic/lighting industries, in conjunction with the end users (consumers), come up with them. Let's keep government out of it.
The Tesla, Edison shootout that you spoke of was conducted w/out government intrusion. Tesla won because he had the superior solution across the board.
Edison's was a Charlie Foxtrot, that only got the hearing it got because of his name. It was still a worthwhile shootout though.
Heck even the world cannot agree on basic electrical standards. What should it be: 120V or 220V; 60Hz or 50Hz; and holy crap, all the different plug and receptacle designs...
Lets see if we can get (here is the US) a 100W equivalent, Edison socket, 120V, dim capable LED bulb I can screw into a 50 year antique lamp, or recessed cans for less than say - $20/bulb to start?
We've been working on small easily hidden away "grow light" systems and the brackets are a problem. There's simply no need for the new LEDs to "screw in" or "snap in" ~ for many of them it'd make more sense to just give us a flat plastic block where we'd use rubber glue or velcro tabs to affix them.