I don't know why, but I find it extremely difficult to work on stuff that I don't think will someday become useful or profitable. I think this is what different

I don't know why, but I find it extremely difficult to work on stuff that I don't think will someday become useful or profitable. I think this is what differentiates a lot of hackers out there. There are the hackers who create for the pure joy of it; they love to learn, create neat things, and don't like to worry so much about the viability or marketability of their creations. Then there are the hackers who do it solely so that they or others can profit from it. We need both - the former are the toolmakers and typically push the tech in new directions that become practical later on. The latter are the tool-users and take what's been learned from the tool-maker's efforts and apply it to the real, functioning world.