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I find it odd that the corporate research lab is popularly acknowledged to be dead when so many large companies maintain corporate research labs: http://www.ge
by danjayh 10y ago
I find it odd that the corporate research lab is popularly acknowledged to be dead when so many large companies maintain corporate research labs:
http://www.geglobalresearch.com/ http://www.geglobalresearch.com/
http://research.ibm.com/ http://research.ibm.com/
https://research.google.com/ https://research.google.com/
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/ https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
https://www.cbinsights.com/blog/corporate-innovation-labs/ https://www.cbinsights.com/blog/corporate-innovation-labs/ <- a giant list of more labs
...
Now, I will admit that corporate research has tapered off significantly since then, but 'tapered off' and 'dead' are two entirely different things.
You might think 'But wait! the kind of basic physics research that used to be done by Bell is dead'. I counter with two arguments:
- Basic computer science research is an equally valid, equally fundamental thing, and many of the labs listed above conduct it as their primary business
- Basic physics research does still happen. I included GE Global Research at the top of my list because they in particular do a lot of research into materials, chemistry, etc (which will eventually be applied to things like turbine blades, batteries, LEDs, etc.).
- batbomb 10y agoCS research, for the most part, is a fractional cost compared to basic physics research, materials research, chemistry, etc... mostly due to the capital costs associated with setting up proper labs. The majority of science research, especially the risky exploratory kind vs. the incremental efficiency/process improvement kind, is mostly in universities and to a lesser extent, national labs.
- shagie 10y agoIBM's research projects ( http://research.ibm.com/#featured-projects http://research.ibm.com/#featured-projects ) seem to include areas such as polymer research ( http://www.research.ibm.com/articles/industrialpolymers.shtml#fbid=7xlcoAUWFhM http://www.research.ibm.com/articles/industrialpolymers.shtm... ), semiconductors ( http://www.research.ibm.com/articles/chipchallenge.shtml#fbid=7xlcoAUWFhM http://www.research.ibm.com/articles/chipchallenge.shtml#fbi... ) amongst other domains. While there is certainly CSesque research in the list of areas, it is not the only area.