4 ms·

Then what is? Seems to me to be very similar to the glory days of PARC and such where they seemed to have the funds to research just about anything. Lets not fo

Then what is? Seems to me to be very similar to the glory days of PARC and such where they seemed to have the funds to research just about anything. Lets not forget that Xerox brought the world the GUI, laser printer and Ethernet by funding PARC, even if they in the end was not who ended up monetizing the tech (laser printer excluded).

pinewurst 10y ago
I don't think that's a good comparison. PARC efforts could at least be justified as being document related, which was solidly in sync with Xerox strategy. This "moonshot" stuff can't be classified as pure research as per Bell Labs/IBM Research or corporate goal focused. It's only a failed attempt to prove the capability propaganda that they communicate to the world.
Tempest1981 10y ago
Right, what are the other options? * Government? Would be targeted as waste. (Maybe sneak it into NASA?) * Startup? Would anyone fund it? No short term payout. * Non-profit? * Billionaire's pet project?
- exergy 10y ago
  Perhaps it's the fact that I'm inexorably falling deeper into academia every year, but government research is definitely NOT a waste from my perspective. Some of the best PhD students, working on some of the most interesting projects in my experience all had DOE or EPA grant projects. I think this sort of research deserves a lot more money since, in my (biased) opinion, it pushes humanity forward through public access of research in the form of publications, theses, and the strict requirements that data be preserved for future reference.
  - a_imho 10y ago
    I think it is meant as not cost effective, as governments are usually very wasteful in redistributing resources.
    - eli_gottlieb 10y ago
      Wasteful compared to what? I mean, what does your normative budget look like for an R&D project?
    - flukus 10y ago
      I took it to mean that it would be targeted by people/media/politicians when they are trying to find ways to tighten their budgetary belts.
rak00n 10y ago
Or Unix from AT&T.

pinewurst 10y ago

I don't think that's a good comparison. PARC efforts could at least be justified as being document related, which was solidly in sync with Xerox strategy. This "moonshot" stuff can't be classified as pure research as per Bell Labs/IBM Research or corporate goal focused. It's only a failed attempt to prove the capability propaganda that they communicate to the world.

Tempest1981 10y ago

Right, what are the other options? * Government? Would be targeted as waste. (Maybe sneak it into NASA?) * Startup? Would anyone fund it? No short term payout. * Non-profit? * Billionaire's pet project?

exergy 10y ago
Perhaps it's the fact that I'm inexorably falling deeper into academia every year, but government research is definitely NOT a waste from my perspective. Some of the best PhD students, working on some of the most interesting projects in my experience all had DOE or EPA grant projects. I think this sort of research deserves a lot more money since, in my (biased) opinion, it pushes humanity forward through public access of research in the form of publications, theses, and the strict requirements that data be preserved for future reference.
- a_imho 10y ago
  I think it is meant as not cost effective, as governments are usually very wasteful in redistributing resources.
  - eli_gottlieb 10y ago
    Wasteful compared to what? I mean, what does your normative budget look like for an R&D project?
  - flukus 10y ago
    I took it to mean that it would be targeted by people/media/politicians when they are trying to find ways to tighten their budgetary belts.

rak00n 10y ago

Or Unix from AT&T.