Alternative seed starting ideas, talked thorugh some new ideas with a Pro today. Hydroponics?

I met with the Pat who owns 422 Grow today and we went over some great new ideas for seed starting today. I really held onto everything he was walking me through today, I asked a ton of questions, and found solutions. It was great picking his brain...

One new growing medium I discovered was Coconut Husk material that can be added to your garden pretty cheap. He showed me how this stuff expands, what start out as a 10 pound block, was as large as the huge bags of dog food, and twice as thick. I once received a package of red worms with this stuff as the starting medium for them. Later I learned how adding this material is not only organic, but also allows air to moved through your soil as well as keeps it from compacting together. To bust the clay in my garden I have been using gypsum for several years, this year its time to add bio material...
Now using this stuff or the rock spun material, you need liquid nutrients to mix with the water. The rock spun material just twisted my mind... The whole time he was explaining it to me I was thinking huh....why....huh.... But I learned more about air flow than I ever knew, I also learned more about micro organism than I expected. He might have a PHD in Micro Biology, giving the amount of info he was covering today.
With a small investment, under $24, I might try this approach just as something different and to see which way is better. Last he showed me a book he said would have me producing fruits in veggies in 50-120 days from now. Hydroponic Gardening.
Me? I still think nothing better than organic soil, and lots of love with a green thumb...... I have never been closed minded to try new things, and with just a small investment, if it works better  than traditional methods, why not?