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For those who believe governments only serve to stifle innovation, please take heed to this counter example(before the Silicon Valley PR machine recasts the res
by boh 7y ago
For those who believe governments only serve to stifle innovation, please take heed to this counter example(before the Silicon Valley PR machine recasts the research as a work of its own genius).
- ape4 7y agoNot even counting government research, roads and bridges and other infrastructure make innovation possible. Where would Uber, Amazon (deliveries) be without good roads and bridges.
- sjwright 7y agohttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_didn%27t_build_that https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_didn%27t_build_that
- akhilcacharya 7y agoIt was hysterical to see Scott Brown and Mitt Romney attempt to use this as a gotcha...it backfired hard.
- mrguyorama 7y agoAre you sure? Every party republican I know seems convinced that everything they've ever done is theirs and theirs alone, and has nothing to do with the 200+ years of work that the United States has put into education and infrastructure
- akhilcacharya 7y agoConsidering both Romney and Brown lost in 2012, I'd say it failed. Trump, for all of his many failures and faults, pivoted away from this logic in 2016.
- mrguyorama 7y agoThey were not elected, but it was not for that reason.
- j7ake 7y agoThe entire tech industry is founded upon basic research. If Silicon Valley thinks they built it all themselves they are completely delusional.
- SheinhardtWigCo 7y agoSilicon Valley is a place.
- delecti 7y ago"Silicon Valley" is also a metonym for the tech industry in that place.
- SketchySeaBeast 7y agoThe song "New York state of mind" must drive you nuts.
- barbecue_sauce 7y agoIt's synecdoche. "Silicon Valley" -> "West Coast Tech Industry"
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- Aromasin 7y agoSometimes I think if the majority of HN had their way we'd be living in a feudal system again, except with right to rule given to Silicon Valley start-up royalty instead of divine-right nobility.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- dexen 7y agoIt's a fine sentiment. Tor is another good example of innovation ran by the (US) Navy. Which is to be expected, as navies traditionally were big into crypto. The military has long history of both doing their own research (logistics & management, and cryptography being good examples), running research institutes with civilian employees (as it seems to be in this case), and contracting out R&D to run-of-the-mill civilian institutions (half of the SV on a good day). It's worth remembering that the military in typical country is set up with certain similarities to free market economy: it negotiates budget with the "customer" (government), it has several major branches that fiercely compete with each other (typically air force, army, navy; US also rolls with marines as a separate branch), and there are vertical & lateral transfers of employees at times. Lastly, there's always the competing militaris abroad ;-) Heck, one of common view of the Cold War is that of NATO bankrupting the Soviet block via military arms race.
- umvi 7y ago> Tor is another good example of innovation ran by the (US) Navy. But is it ethical to use military-developed innovations?
- Diederich 7y agoThe US Government did not develop Tor, they 'only' funded it. I understand that funding something often effectively imbues a project with whatever mojo the funding org has associated with it. That's certainly not the case here though. Tor's ideals and direction was established and set before said funding, and have remained steadfast since. To the bigger point: > But is it ethical to use military-developed innovations? That's complicated in the real world. Many good, moral things have been created or encouraged by immoral organizations, and vice versa. The US Government has sponsored the development of many different good, useful technologies over the years. The reverse is true as well, though perhaps to a lesser extent.
- dexen 7y agoYes, it is ethical to put military research to the best use we can. Whether logistical systems, trauma medicine, personal weapons, or encryption, all those improve our efficiency, our safety, our leisure, and our privacy. Wars aside, the military is a place where practical problems are encountered daily, and the solutions battle-tested at scale. It's reasonably safety-minded and cost-aware (spicy anecdotes aside). Moreover, it's helps a lot when the research isn't walled off by stringent IP regulations.
- nathan_long 7y agoSee also: ARPANET, forerunner of the internet. > The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was an early packet-switching network and the first network to implement the TCP/IP protocol suite. Both technologies became the technical foundation of the Internet. The ARPANET was initially founded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of the United States Department of Defense. > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARPANET https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARPANET "Where Wizards Stay Up Late" by Katie Hafner is an entertaining chronicle of its creation.
- the_watcher 7y agoSimilarly, military research can yield innovations that, while initially designed for military use, turn out to have important and transformative non-military applications.
- rubidium 7y agoMany researchers are more interested in the non-military options. But you get better funding when you pitch it for the military.
- cronix 7y agoGPS is a pretty good example of that. While it was developed by the US military, civilians world-wide use it every day. I'd call it a transformative technology. Turn by turn directions, self driving cars, drones (not military), cameras, phones, etc.
- Swizec 7y agoGovernments stifle innovation? Wasn’t it the government who gave us the internet and the computer too? Early self-driving cars too.
- abalone 7y agoyeah fine batteries but what about autonomous vehicles? surely that breakthrough is the genius of Elon Musk and Silicon Valley free market entrepreneurship not military funded.... oh.[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARPA_Grand_Challenge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARPA_Grand_Challenge
- throwayEngineer 7y agoGiven the dead humans caused by the military, the extreme costs of funding, I think you would need a massive invention to offset the costs. The trillions of dollars spent, could be argued, is better spent in the private sector on innovation.
- honestoHeminway 7y agoThe private sector is nice when it comes to refining existing stuff. And rewriting history to reattribut inventions in instituitions.
- SilasX 7y agoFor those who want to accurately represent what those who disagree with you actually believe, please use parent comment as an example of how not to do it.
- scotradamus 7y agoA ton of great innovation comes from Universities and the National Labs. I would argue most innovation comes out of basic research funded by the government. Interestingly, in a lot of ways this research is subsidized R&D for American corporations and startups. Much of what gets funded in basic research is set by lobbyists. It makes sense, not many companies can sink millions or in some cases billions of dollars into R&D that may never have commercial applications. There was a really good book review about this in a Physics Today issue a few years back (I cant currently find it).
- DeonPenny 7y agoThe US government is one of the biggest investors in innovation