Alternative irrigation method?

[JimStick]

One day I was watched the sprinkler system for our apartments turn on and not even 5 minutes later I was watching huge amounts of water run off and run down the drain. This got me thinking. Why do we need to use sprinklers in the typical sense in that water is sprayed all over the place and so much of it seems to go to waste. Why not deliver the water right to the root system of the plants?

My thought was having a underground pipe system seep water out into the soil which would gradually give the plant the water it needs.

Was wondering on any thoughts about why we wouldn't do this?

[canalon]

More expensive?
With 2 sprinklers you can cover a lawn, to have water diffuse evenly from underground, you would need to burry hundreds of meter of special pipes in the best case. What do you think people will do? Water is cheaper than piping (at least upfront)