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Even Bell Labs wasn't suddenly Bell Labs though. Even when Bell Labs was "Bell Labs", was it ever profitable for those who were footing the bill (as opposed to
by CreRecombinase 6y ago
Even Bell Labs wasn't suddenly Bell Labs though. Even when Bell Labs was "Bell Labs", was it ever profitable for those who were footing the bill (as opposed to society at large, which it obviously was)?
- Ericson2314 6y agoBell labs was good precisely because I doubt it ever made anyone much money. Hmmmm.....
- wwright 6y agoSomeone could make some good money by explaining how this squares with the conventional wisdom that optimizing for profit also optimizes for the good of mankind.
- jfk13 6y agoThat's "conventional wisdom"? It sounds like a pretty implausible proposition to me.
- Ericson2314 6y agohahaha I (think I) see what you did there
- spamizbad 6y agoWasn't Bell Labs funded by a tax/surcharge on people's phone bills? I believe there was some restrictions on commercializing its developments as well. It could do research, create things for internal use at AT&T, but not traditional product development.