3 ms·

One of the underappreciated reasons both Bell Labs and PARC worked was they actually hired a lot of people who had already established themselves. One of the pr

One of the underappreciated reasons both Bell Labs and PARC worked was they actually hired a lot of people who had already established themselves. One of the problem with young researchers, no matter how nobly minded, is that they will play the game. A PARC today would have almost no chance to avoid becoming a trend following mess. This is part of how they avoided the ROI catastrophe (researchers with enough cred could argue that there was a long term potential) and the publish or perish issues.

Solvency 3y ago
If that's the case and if older developers are always complaining/citing ageism or leetcode startups getting them down, why don't they band together to propose an R&D lab?
- linguae 3y ago
  1. Development and research are two different skills. Not all developers are good researchers, and not all researchers are good developers. With that said, there are people who are good at both; Dennis Ritchie and Jeff Dean are great examples. 2. The biggest barrier to starting a research lab is how will this lab make enough revenue to fund the lab’s operations and the living expenses of its staff? A significant challenge of running a research institute is fundraising. The first thing a lab must do is to establish a mission. Will this lab do long-term, speculative work or will it aim for shorter-term surer bets? What are the lab’s boundaries; what stipulations from funders can it live with, and what ones are unacceptable? I say this because as a researcher, I have learned The Golden Rule: “He who has the gold makes the rules.” Another way of putting it: “he who pays the piper calls the tune.” It is often the case that money comes with strings attached; it’s up to the lab to determine which strings are acceptable or not.
- foobiekr 3y ago
  Because the current operating mode for almost all companies is a focus on shorter and shorter term results? Because while there is a place for some hands on developers at such a place that is not most of the staff? The Manhattan project hired a lot of engineers but none of them were the design leads.

Solvency 3y ago

If that's the case and if older developers are always complaining/citing ageism or leetcode startups getting them down, why don't they band together to propose an R&D lab?

linguae 3y ago
1. Development and research are two different skills. Not all developers are good researchers, and not all researchers are good developers. With that said, there are people who are good at both; Dennis Ritchie and Jeff Dean are great examples. 2. The biggest barrier to starting a research lab is how will this lab make enough revenue to fund the lab’s operations and the living expenses of its staff? A significant challenge of running a research institute is fundraising. The first thing a lab must do is to establish a mission. Will this lab do long-term, speculative work or will it aim for shorter-term surer bets? What are the lab’s boundaries; what stipulations from funders can it live with, and what ones are unacceptable? I say this because as a researcher, I have learned The Golden Rule: “He who has the gold makes the rules.” Another way of putting it: “he who pays the piper calls the tune.” It is often the case that money comes with strings attached; it’s up to the lab to determine which strings are acceptable or not.
foobiekr 3y ago
Because the current operating mode for almost all companies is a focus on shorter and shorter term results? Because while there is a place for some hands on developers at such a place that is not most of the staff? The Manhattan project hired a lot of engineers but none of them were the design leads.