5 ms·

wasn't bell labs part of a very big corporation when they invented basically everything about the modern world?

nutjob2 8y ago
Bell Labs invented Google, Facebook, etc? Wow, did not know that. But as you say, the labs were a very small, independent part of a very big corporation, which is likely why they did interesting things. The other thing is that they were forced by the government to license transistor patents to others, who actually created almost everything else. By your theory the military invented the internet, so they invented the modern world. A huge and wasteful military is the key!
- jrockway 8y ago
  Google and Facebook would look a lot different without transistors.
  - cestith 8y ago
    And lasers. And Unix. And switched networking. And binary digital computers. And long-haul undersea cables. And the first successful communications satellite. And data networking. http://blog.tmcnet.com/next-generation-communications/2011/08/the-top-bell-labs-innovations---part-i-the-game-changers.html http://blog.tmcnet.com/next-generation-communications/2011/0...
    - grkvlt 8y ago
      Yes, but apart from that, what have the Romans, er, Bell Labs ever given us?
- wlesieutre 8y ago
  They didn't invent Google and Facebook, but they're responsible for transistors, lasers, Unix, C and C++, CCD digital image sensors, long distance microwave radio relays, the first transatlantic phone cable, MOSFETs, communication satellites, and cell networks. Not modern internet services no, but all of the infrastructure it's built on is grounded on theirs.
  - Aloha 8y ago
    All of which they were required to license on FRAND terms - Consider that the basic research done by bell labs was paid for by a royalty paid to it by western electric and the various bell operating companies - it was blanket royalty, not a per product one too.
- ibeckermayer 8y ago
  Google and Facebook are ad companies. Their “innovation” isn’t even in the same ballpark as what came out of Bell Labs
- wruza 8y ago
  TBH your examples are not what people should be much proud of. If you mentioned e.g. stackexchange and similar human-grade tech, then this argument would look somewhat better. Invasive tracking and manipulation through ads is actually the style of military of thinking.
- coldtea 8y ago
  >Bell Labs invented Google, Facebook, etc? Wow, did not know that. Compared to what they invented, Google and Facebook are insignificant in comparison. We could go back to Altavista and no-Facebook and we'd be more or less fine. Giving back the Bell Labs technlogy would be a much harder hit...
  - baq 8y ago
    No-Facebook would arguably be a better world the older I get...
mywittyname 8y ago
AT&T's early dominance was the direct result of the invention of the transistor that came from their own labs. From then on, the company was committed to spending massive amounts of money into developing new technology. Even if AT&T didn't directly invent a new technology, they were still one of the few companies in the world that could actually afford to buy new toys and put them into the hands of researchers who would find novel uses for it. The Computerphile YouTube channel as some interviews with computer scientists that worked at Bell Labs during their heyday. It's incredibly interesting to hear about how they screwed around with early Linotype printers (which $100k+ in the 70s) and did things like reverse-engineer the font formats to create custom chess fonts.
- tlb 8y ago
  That's not accurate. AT&T dominated telecommunications for decades before the transistor. Many of Bell Labs great scientific inventions predate the transistor, such as information theory.
  - mywittyname 8y ago
    Sure, but the transistor ushered in the long-distance era and helped AT&T establish their monopoly (and their eventual breakup). Regional telephone services were already beginning to drive down costs in local markets.
    - tlb 8y ago
      Maybe you're thinking of the triode, which AT&T did have a monopoly on around 1915, when they deployed the first transcontinental long-distance service using vacuum tubes to boost the signal. They bought deForest's patents and filed many more of their own on amplification circuits. They had direct-dial long-distance by 1951, using relays and tubes. The transistor started making a difference in telephony with the release of the 1ESS switch in 1965. But transistors were a commodity by then.
- cma 8y ago
  I think it is also that with a huge monopoly in an area, you can capture most of the benefits from basic research. With lots of competitors basic research gains go to all the competitors too and at some level you don't capture enough of the benefit to justify it.
late2part 8y ago
No, Bell Labs did not invent basically everything about the modern world.
- TremendousJudge 8y ago
  yeah, part of it was invented at PARC
  - late2part 8y ago
    you down voters are not giving Al Gore enough credit.

Bell Labs invented Google, Facebook, etc? Wow, did not know that. But as you say, the labs were a very small, independent part of a very big corporation, which is likely why they did interesting things. The other thing is that they were forced by the government to license transistor patents to others, who actually created almost everything else. By your theory the military invented the internet, so they invented the modern world. A huge and wasteful military is the key!

jrockway 8y ago
Google and Facebook would look a lot different without transistors.
- cestith 8y ago
  And lasers. And Unix. And switched networking. And binary digital computers. And long-haul undersea cables. And the first successful communications satellite. And data networking. http://blog.tmcnet.com/next-generation-communications/2011/08/the-top-bell-labs-innovations---part-i-the-game-changers.html http://blog.tmcnet.com/next-generation-communications/2011/0...
  - grkvlt 8y ago
    Yes, but apart from that, what have the Romans, er, Bell Labs ever given us?
wlesieutre 8y ago
They didn't invent Google and Facebook, but they're responsible for transistors, lasers, Unix, C and C++, CCD digital image sensors, long distance microwave radio relays, the first transatlantic phone cable, MOSFETs, communication satellites, and cell networks. Not modern internet services no, but all of the infrastructure it's built on is grounded on theirs.
- Aloha 8y ago
  All of which they were required to license on FRAND terms - Consider that the basic research done by bell labs was paid for by a royalty paid to it by western electric and the various bell operating companies - it was blanket royalty, not a per product one too.
ibeckermayer 8y ago
Google and Facebook are ad companies. Their “innovation” isn’t even in the same ballpark as what came out of Bell Labs
wruza 8y ago
TBH your examples are not what people should be much proud of. If you mentioned e.g. stackexchange and similar human-grade tech, then this argument would look somewhat better. Invasive tracking and manipulation through ads is actually the style of military of thinking.
coldtea 8y ago
>Bell Labs invented Google, Facebook, etc? Wow, did not know that. Compared to what they invented, Google and Facebook are insignificant in comparison. We could go back to Altavista and no-Facebook and we'd be more or less fine. Giving back the Bell Labs technlogy would be a much harder hit...
- baq 8y ago
  No-Facebook would arguably be a better world the older I get...

mywittyname 8y ago

AT&T's early dominance was the direct result of the invention of the transistor that came from their own labs. From then on, the company was committed to spending massive amounts of money into developing new technology. Even if AT&T didn't directly invent a new technology, they were still one of the few companies in the world that could actually afford to buy new toys and put them into the hands of researchers who would find novel uses for it. The Computerphile YouTube channel as some interviews with computer scientists that worked at Bell Labs during their heyday. It's incredibly interesting to hear about how they screwed around with early Linotype printers (which $100k+ in the 70s) and did things like reverse-engineer the font formats to create custom chess fonts.

tlb 8y ago
That's not accurate. AT&T dominated telecommunications for decades before the transistor. Many of Bell Labs great scientific inventions predate the transistor, such as information theory.
- mywittyname 8y ago
  Sure, but the transistor ushered in the long-distance era and helped AT&T establish their monopoly (and their eventual breakup). Regional telephone services were already beginning to drive down costs in local markets.
  - tlb 8y ago
    Maybe you're thinking of the triode, which AT&T did have a monopoly on around 1915, when they deployed the first transcontinental long-distance service using vacuum tubes to boost the signal. They bought deForest's patents and filed many more of their own on amplification circuits. They had direct-dial long-distance by 1951, using relays and tubes. The transistor started making a difference in telephony with the release of the 1ESS switch in 1965. But transistors were a commodity by then.
cma 8y ago
I think it is also that with a huge monopoly in an area, you can capture most of the benefits from basic research. With lots of competitors basic research gains go to all the competitors too and at some level you don't capture enough of the benefit to justify it.

late2part 8y ago

No, Bell Labs did not invent basically everything about the modern world.

TremendousJudge 8y ago
yeah, part of it was invented at PARC
- late2part 8y ago
  you down voters are not giving Al Gore enough credit.