We can certainly point out where various technologies were first discovered, and quite often it is academia (with a few exceptions like Bell Labs and Xerox PARC

We can certainly point out where various technologies were first discovered, and quite often it is academia (with a few exceptions like Bell Labs and Xerox PARC). But I think this is unfair to industry. What industry does is make usable compact products from these discoveries and one shouldn't denigrate this. I remember Steve Mann from U Toronto demonstrating his augmented reality devices in the 1990s. They were very impressive for the time -- but they required him to wear a backpack of equipment and absurdly large goggles. We still aren't there yet, but Google Glass made his ideas into a semi-practical product.